Eyland was best known for his work that transformed public spaces[5] and his drawings and paintings done on the small 3 x 5 index card format. In 2005 his installation Untitled, consisting of over 1000 paintings, opened at the Winnipeg's Millennium Library.[6][7] In 2014, he installed at the Halifax Central Library whereLibrary Cards is behind the front desk and Book Shelf Paintings is on the fifth floor.[8][4] He also has a smaller public art commission of 600 painting titled Sculptures in Landscapes at the Meadows branch of the Edmonton Public Library.[9]
Eyland also hid card drawings in books and card catalogues at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Library and Archives in Ottawa and the Muttart Library in Calgary.[4] During his 2012 residency and solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, he showed painting in the vitrine, published an artist book and placed 1000 file card drawings[10] into books in the Library.[11]
Eyland was a curator and writer as an extension of his artistic practice.[12] Between 1998–2010, he was an associate professor of painting at the University of Manitoba School of Art and director of Gallery One One One.[13][1]
Group exhibitions include shows in Paris at the Maison Rouge museum, in Florence, Italy, Manchester, England, and Lublin, Poland, among others.[citation needed] Eyland regularly updated his ongoing installation File Card Works Hidden in Books at the Raymond Fogelman Library at the New School University in New York City between 1997 until 2005.[15]
^Cronin, Ray (May 1997). "A reasoned compulsion: An interview with cliff eyland". C: International Contemporary Art. 53: 22 – via Proquest Art, Design & Architecture Collection.