TheThunderbird.ca from UBC journalism » Vancouver Art Seen

Aboriginal artists challenge Canada's colonial legacy

Cecilia Greyson — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:59:34 +0000

Sam Durant used archival photographs to re-create a sign used at a Native American civil protest in the U.S.

Acting as a healthy antidote to nationalistic Olympic fervour, several prominent art shows feature uncompromising looks at Canada’s relationship with aboriginal communities, and the legacy of colonialism, racism, and inequity.

These include Arthur Renwick’s show at the Richmond Art Gallery, ‘s work in , and a retrospective of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun’s at the Contemporary Art Gallery.

One of the most engaging shows currently on display is at Vancouver’s new on Hastings Street.

Curated by Candice Hopkins as part of the , the show features works by nine artists. The title of the show was inspired by two 1997 ink cartoons by Brian Jungen, displayed at the entrance to the gallery. Inspired by a 1950′s tourist postcard depicting B.C. totems, Jungen’s sketches show signposts pointing in opposite directions, labelled with oppositional phrases “First Person / Third World” and “First Nation / Second Nature”.

Rebecca Belmore, an internationally-known artist, represented Canada at the 2005 Venice Biennale.

One of the strongest pieces is’s site-specific piece, sister (2010). Dominating the storefront windows, the piece is a powerful, pared-down image.

Consisting of three backlit photo screens, the work shows an image of a First Nations woman wearing a denim jacket and jeans, standing with her back to the camera and her arms upraised.

Larger than life, the figure aggressively confronts the viewer in full colour, but the averted face and stance signify the submissive gesture of a forced police frisking.

and Andrew Lee’s site-specific installation, everything up to the sky and down to the centre of the earth, seems particularly poignant. The artists collected dirt and gravel from the adjacent city block, and displayed the detritus they found in long transparent tubes mounted on a wall. For viewers, it’s a devastating reminder of the who came from this community.

One of the most confrontational works is Sam Durant ‘s 2008 piece, You are on Indian Land show some respect. Inspired by archival photos of civil rights protests in the U.S., Durant duplicated a protest sign on translucent film, and illuminated the printed text with florescent bulbs.

In this show, context is everything. The gallery’s location on the has a particular resonance, perched on the edge of Vancouver’s downtown eastside neighbourhood. With one of the poorest communities in Canada and a large aboriginal population, Canada’s traumatic colonial legacy is a living reality for many.

It’s refreshing to see curators commit to rigorous, socially relevant projects like this. But I’m left wishing that this kind of dialogue isn’t relegated simply to galleries, but brought to government arenas, where change and progress seem to occur at a glacial pace. I’d love to see Stephen Harper toured around this show by the curator and artists, but somehow I doubt I’ll get my wish.

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Local art galleries slow to join Twitter

Cecilia Greyson — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:37:39 +0000

Unlike local art galleries, Vancouver artist Paul Wong is an active Twitter-user.

Approaching and , Twitter’s influence in the social media realm is undeniable. Tech analysts that the micro-blogging interface has never been hotter.

Despite Twitter’s popularity, I noticed that Vancouver’s art scene wasn’t a big presence on the platform.

I was surprised to see that few Vancouver art gallery websites have Twitter or Facebook link buttons, and I was even more surprised to see that many galleries don’t even have a Twitter account.

As part of an informal survey, I checked out Twitter use for eight local public art galleries: the , , , , , (Video In), , and the .

Only one of these galleries (the Western Front) has an active Twitter . And even the Western Front’s account was only set recently (in November), and had only 104 followers and 13 tweets.

The Museum of Modern Art tweets regularly, answering questions from followers and publicizing events.

In comparison, New York’s also doesn’t have dedicated Twitter or Facebook buttons on its main webpage. But its is well developed, with 120,000 followers and over 1,000 tweets linking to exhibits, videos, articles, and upcoming events.

London’s is also , with 62,000 followers, 653 posts, and changing background photographs to advertise upcoming . Even the museum’s has a Twitter , posting notes about new products and sales.

More and more artists are turning to social media as a way to promote their work, network with other artists, and gather information., a Vancouver artist, has a great , with bold graphics and funny updates to publicize his new works and interactive events.

“Twitter is a great tool to promote upcoming shows, events, and tidbits that we just want to share,” said Natasha Neale, Paul Wong’s assistant, in a recent email. “Having Twitter as a tool for communication is exciting when followers respond to our tweets.”

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Local galleries will probably dive into Twitter soon, but there may be a reason for the slow transition. Developing an online social media presence requires commitment of time from gallery staff who understand Twitter from the inside out. When galleries are already smarting from , it’s challenging to find the resources to do yet another marketing or communications campaign.

Vancouver Art Gallery: safe shows, PR pitches

Cecilia Greyson — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:16:28 +0000

Brian Jungen's 2002 work, Cetology, is a replica of an Bowhead whale skeleton, constructed entirely of plastic chairs.

It’s been a banner month for the Vancouver Art Gallery. Media outlets reported this week that the combination of crowd-pleasing exhibitions with free admission during the Olympics was a success, pulling in an estimated 100,000 visitors and setting a new attendance record.

Gallery-goers hoping to see radically different works won’t necessarily be satisfied here, but there’s still enough solid stuff on display to please a broad audience. Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings are the featured attraction, paired with a show of contemporary work examining mortality and the body.

Something new, something old…and something regional. Visions of British Columbia is an attempt to offer a show appropriate for the adjacent BC Pavilion. Linking a large selection of modernist and contemporary works together under a generalized banner feels a bit simplistic, but it’s an easy way to fill rooms with some iconic works from the gallery’s permanent collection.

Designed to showcase local talent, the show features Emily Carr’s dark forests on canvas, Bill Reid’s iconic Haida carvings and Group of Seven member Fred Varley’s oil sketches of BC canyons. But don’t dismiss the show as traditionalist. The contemporary pieces taken from the gallery’s collection are impressive. Jeff Wall, Jim Me Yoon, Stan Douglas, Brian Jungen…it’s like a “greatest hits” retrospective for art history students.

East Vancouver, anyone? Jeff Wall's famous 1990 photograph The Pine on the Corner.

But my favourite piece on display this month isn’t even art – it’s a public relations pitch. In the gallery entrance, a flat-panel television plays a video describing plans for building a new, stand-alone “iconic” gallery facility on a downtown vacant lot. Designed to drum up support, the video is set to an embarrassing muzak soundtrack.

The gallery’s $400 million development plans were recently reported by local media, and concerns were cited that city plans for office tower development on the chosen site would be at odds with the VAG’s desire for a stand-alone building.

Ken Lum's scale models are set over a reflecting pond, evoking the Maplewood Mudflats of North Vancouver where the original cabins once stood.

Ironically, one of the best comments on Vancouver’s rapid urban development is visible at the gallery’s Offsite venue at Georgia and Thurlow. Ken Lum’s site-specific work, from shangri-la to shangri-la, features scale replicas of three squatter cabins from North Vancouver’s early history. Mythic in local lore, the cabins famously housed Malcolm Lowry, artist Tom Burrows, and Greenpeace activist Paul Spong.

The tiny replicas are evocative and perfectly detailed. Dwarfed by Vancouver’s tallest towers, the vulnerable scrap wood structures challenged viewers to think about how art production actually fits into a rapidly changing, gentrified city.

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Five must-see art shows for March

Cecilia Greyson — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:15:43 +0000

It’s true that a number of great visual arts shows sponsored by the 2010 Cultural Olympiad have been taken down, like Fire with Fire and the Candahar. But take heart, art-lovers: there’s still time to check out some excellent visual arts shows in Vancouver.

Attracting an estimated 1.5 million visitors in total during the Olympics, the Cultural Olympiad has been a huge success. The visual arts shows have been part of the draw, with works from Canadian and international artists visible in venues all over the city.

Here are my picks for five must-see shows to check out this month:

Massive floral designs inspired by Taiwanese textiles cover Michael Lin's installation at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

1. Michael Lin’s A Modest Veil at the Vancouver Art Gallery (until May 2, 2010). Anyone downtown recently has probably caught a glance of Lin’s latest work, but it’s worth a closer look. Mounted in three sections facing the Georgia Street Plaza, the massive floral façade hand-painted by Lin and local art students has been a backdrop for civic protests and Olympic gatherings since the work was installed.

2. Ed Pien’s Tracing Night at the Museum of Vancouver (until April 11, 2010). Pien’s latest installation is an evocative journey into the mysteries of the subconscious. Constructed from enormous sheets of translucent paper, the work features audio, video, and Pien’s signature drawings of odd, dreamlike characters. Narrow tunnels, secret passageways, and startling peepholes cut in layers of paper create a mysterious effect for visitors.

3. Backstory: Nuuchaanulth Ceremonial Curtains and the Work of Ki-ke-in, at the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery (until March 28, 2010). This is a spectacular show featuring traditional and modern ceremonial curtains that were originally created as portable ritual art by aboriginal communities on Vancouver Island after the banning of potlatches by the Canadian government. Named “thllltsapilthim”, the curtains continue to be featured prominently in community celebrations.

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Canadian artists like Adad Hannah created works for the Endlessly Traversed Landscapes series.

4. Endlessly Traversed Landscapes (until March 21, 2010). Featuring the work of 18 Canadian artists, the pieces are displayed on public billboards throughout Vancouver. With works in photography, text, painting and collage, the billboards are unexpected and quirky, and include a series riffing on picture postcards.

5. Reece Terris’ Another False Front at the Western Front Gallery (until March 27, 2010). With wood and paint, Terris’ latest work is a duplicate wooden false front attached to the century-old existing false front on top of one of Canada’s oldest artist-run centres. Impossibly tall, Terris’ playful architectural intervention brings focus to the rapid urban development in the city of Vancouver.