ROBert BEAN

HERMES is an exhibition of contemporary photo-based projects by Halifax artist Robert Bean that reconsiders the Greek god Hermes, the designated messenger of the gods. Traversing the borders of myth and science, mortals and the divine, Hermes the trickster is never stable. As the god of commerce, secrets, ruses, thieves, travelers and wit, Hermes continues to hover over the crossroad of science and culture.

Utilizing public archives and collections, Bean considers the temporal uncertainty that photographs and digital media evoke in relation to experience, technology and language. Specific to this project is the production of artwork and publications influenced by the culture of ubiquitous networks, mobile computing and obsolescence. 

Robert Bean is an artist, writer and curator living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a Professor at NSCAD University. Bean has edited books and published articles on the subject of photography, contemporary art and cultural history. He is an active contributor to the Cineflux Research Group at NSCAD University and the Narratives in Space and Time art and mobility project. 

Bean is a recipient of grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canada Council for the Arts. Robert Bean was the Artist in Residence at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa, in 2010. In 2014, Bean curated the exhibition Stan Douglas Photographs in conjunction with the Scoitabank Photography Award. Installed at the Ryerson Image Centre during the CONTACT Photography Festival, the exhibition was accompanied by a monograph of photographs by Stan Douglas published by the Steidl Press. In November 2014, Bean presented a solo exhibition of his photographs at ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Robert Bean's work is in public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) Karlsruhe, Germany and the Donovan Collection, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Ontario.