Eleanor Bond

Canadian, b. 1948

Rotterdam Pioneers New Technologies for the Subterranean Eco-suburb, an Environment with Clean Air, Clean Water and Abundant Daily Sunshine, from the series Cosmoville, 1995

oil on canvas

250 x 400 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with the support of the York Wilson Endowment Award, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts/Oeuvre achetée avec l'aide du prix de la dotation York-Wilson, administré par le Conseil des Arts du Canada and with funds from an anonymous donor

G-98-141

Categories:

Painting, Canadian Contemporary (1980-present)

This work is indicative of Eleanor Bond’s interest in the concept of a future world, where utopian and dsytopian visions collide in an environment that is in the midst of chaotic social, political, and economic changes. Using the city of Rotterdam as her subject, the artist speculates visually on the outcome of the continual reconstruction and transformation of this ever-changing city. Here Bond presents a fictional narrative, which presumes that life in a post-industrial, technological world will be a harsh reality. Cinematic and mural-like, and embodying sculptural and architectural references, this painting can be considered a low-tech form of immersive digital environments or a parallel virtual reality.