Description

“Mother Tongue’s noble rescue project, now eight in the Unheralded Artists of BC series… insightfully written… a sumptuously designed book, and contains a generous number of photographs of Akroyd’s pictures and drawings. ” –Vancouver Sun

Jack Akroyd (1921-1996), born in Yorkshire, immigrated to Canada in 1948 and attended the Ontario College of Art, studying under Carl Schaefer and Jock Macdonald, alongside fellow students Graham Coughtry, Shizuye Takashima and William Kurelek. In 1953 he moved west and supported himself as a draftsman and by fixing kilns for Vancouver schools. He assisted sculptors George Norris, Elek Imredy, and David Marshall. Two trips to Japan in the 1960s profoundly affected his perspective and iconography, and he developed a signature style he called the “visual diary,” which rendered details of his daily life and dreams in mysterious combinations. He held three major shows in Japan, selling over a hundred works.