Rice is Life, is an exhibition hosted online by The John Dyer Gallery. The exhibition was hosted during September 2004 by the Eden Project in Cornwall.

During April 2004 John Dyer was resident artist at the International Rice Research Institute at Los Banos in the Philippines.

John spent his time at IRRI studying the ethno-botanical relationships surrounding the crop rice and the paintings that he completed during his time with IRRI can be seen here and at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. 

Artists in residence at IRRI 

"IRRI had the unusual pleasure of having not one, but two artists in residence as part of the Institute's on-going series of special activities for the International Year of Rice (IYR).

Over five days, British painter John Dyer produced a series of paintings that interpreted the relationships among people, the rice plant, and the rice ecosystem. The paintings are an extension of the work that John - the painter in residence for the Eden Biodome project in Cornwall - carried out last year for the Save the Children Fund. Inspired by the IYR, John hopes his paintings will draw attention to the importance of rice and its impact on the environment.

John was accompanied by Tim Varlow, one of London's top graphic artists and designers for video. Tim produced a series of black ink sketches of different rice scenes such as harvesting and threshing. He also gave some expert advice and ideas on the production of a new visitors video for IRRI. 

His company in London, called Liquid, has been nominated for several British Academy Awards and was also responsible for some of the work for the worldwide promotional campaign for the American Idol talent quest series.

John and Tim have kindly agreed to provide IRRI with images of all the work they did during their visit to Los Banos to be used as limited edition posters, calendars, book covers, Christmas cards, and other promotional items for the Institute and rice.


Find out more about John Dyer's residency in the Philippines