The Future of the VAG

After sitting through a 3 hour informational session on the very topic, many arguments were made against the move of the Vancouver Art Gallery from the current location at Hornby and Georgia, how it will affect the core of the city, and what is to be done with the current historical building.

There are people who believe that the almost final decision to relocate the gallery to the bus depot location on Georgia and Cambie is unwise as it is outside of the tourist area, and that constructing a new building is financially irresponsible due to the economic conditions we are facing. This is especially poignant in a city, which draws from a very small pool of philanthropic donors and seemingly exhausted tax dollars.

The overarching theme in the end is that people dislike change.

Change is scary, and it means we must move outside of our comfort zone to accept something that potentially we aren’t given a say for or against.

I argue that change is inevitable, whether you buy in, or sit on the sidelines. Traditionally younger generations embrace technology and change, and older generations cling to the status quo.

Whether the art gallery should move or not is irrelevant, as by the fall the government will most likely accept the current proposal, an international architect will be found and a new gallery built on the proposed site.

What is relevant is whether a purpose built art gallery will do justice to the art the gallery has in its vaults? Will it draw tourists and residents of the lower mainland and BC through the doors, and will it be able to draw high-end exhibits shared with the major art galleries around the world?

As scary as change is to the cultural fabric of our city, I believe it should be embraced. 

Link to more info on the new site: www.newvanartgallery.com

 

Great art in 2 days?

Project Runway is for fashion what Work of Art: The Next Great Artist is for visual art; both shows explore the artistry of up and coming artists and both share the same production company. As to be expected this show follows the reality TV formula in terms of structure and character selection, making viewers decide who should win and who should go home.

The intrigue of this series for me is not the characters, but rather the art that the contestants produce. Artists are given less than two days to create masterpieces to be shown in a gallery space and are then critiqued on their marketability and artistic merit.

What I continue to question as I watch is whether two days is enough time to create a work of art worthy of public consumption?

I believe many artists would agree that this is not enough time to complete something they are truly proud of; as often you need to walk away from a piece and come back to it at a later date to reflect and approach it with a fresh eye. The artistic process is as individual as DNA and thus different artists, no matter what the medium, work with different approaches and timelines.

In a competitive world that perpetuates deadlines, do we need to hold the visual arts up and compare it to the driven nature of business in order for it to be relevant to the average viewer? Or do we value art in all its forms because it gives us time and space to stop, think and create.

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist airs Wednesdays at 10pm on Bravo

Vancouver Gallery Hop

Saturday May 29^th, 2010 marked the date of a citywide gallery hop put on by the Canadian Art Foundation, with organized tours and talks with an emphasis on getting the city excited about art in our community.

Although Gastown is THE upcoming place to be in terms of art, culture, fashion and gastronomy, it still shows its less polished side, which deters many from exploring it. This grittier side however is what artist Andrew Owen portrays in his solo exhibition “As it is, and/or/neither/nor” on now at the Marion Scott Gallery. The gallery, usually laden with Inuit art, took a leap of faith to display the photo realist work by Owen and hosted a few dozen of us for a talk on his work by novelist Timothy Taylor.

What caught my attention upon entering the gallery was the sequential photo display of different people in a vivid and tactile cityscape. Capturing a portion of the person’s face, then having them hold that photo of themselves for another portrait, and on the sequence goes, begging the question of why we take photos of people in landscapes or with landmarks behind them.

Link to Canadian Art website

Link to Marion Scott Gallery website

Link to Andrew Owen's website

"Re-photo-cubic people solos - Toronto" 2004-2010, by Andrew Owen

 

Digital Orca

"Digital Orca" 2010, by Douglas Coupland

As I found myself inevitably wasting time flipping through friends photos on Facebook, I happened upon wedding photos taken at the new convention centre, and in the background was a sculpture I was sure I hadn’t seen on my endless walks throughout downtown during the Olympics.

So I ventured down to the site of the cauldron, (which by the way they are keeping in situ, and they lit again on Canada Day an will again on other important dates in the future), with camera in hand, to see this sculpture up close and personal. What I found were black and white metal cubes stacked to form an almost life-sized killer whale breaching (or jumping out of the water). 

In contemplating why artist Douglas Coupland would chose this form as opposed to a more common pose in west coast art in which a whale is leaping forward, I decided to look up the definition of ‘breaching’. “Whales are more likely to breach when in groups, suggesting social reasons, such as assertion of dominance, courting or warning of danger”. In coming back full circle back to the title of the sculpture “Digital Orca”, and although the artist gave his own soft interpretation of the reason behind his cubic and pixilated orca, what resonated with me is that this whale was breaching alone.

In the digital age of sitting alone, at home, in front of our computers for social interaction, I can’t help but think that we like whales seek to ‘breach’ as we yearn to relate to others; even if it is just to look at photos of people and places we may never know.