Category: Vancouver art

Magnificent Paper Work by Peter Combe

San Francisco artist, Peter Combe, has a show at Back Gallery Project for the next few weeks. I attended the opening last Thursday and was completely mesmerized by the work.

He creates a mix of portraits and abstract work from hundreds of small circles punched from colourful paint chips, which are placed at an angle to the surface of the piece. The pieces look completely different depending on the angle you view it from, and the colours and tones shift. They are fascinating to look at, and each viewer moves around in front of the work.

Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project
Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project

Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project

The portraits are subtle and the full effect doesn’t come across in photos as it does in person.

Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project
Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project
Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project

Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project
Peter Combe at Back Gallery Project

The show continues until May 9th at Back Gallery Project, so don’t miss it.

First Saturday Open Studios – February 7th

What are you up to this Saturday? You should get out and wander East Van neighbourhoods visiting me and other artists in their studios for First Saturday Open Studios!

FS for FB

It’s been a couple years since I last participated in First Saturday, an open studio day that happens every month with a varying list of excellent artists. This time I will be a guest in the studio of Reilly Lievers, a fabulous photographer, musician, and film maker. You can find us working away at 25 Gore Avenue, between noon to 5pm.

Come say hello, and see Reilly and me in action as we work on our stuff before your very eyes.

First Saturday Open Studios
Date: Saturday February 7th, 2015
Time: 12pm to 5:00pm
Where: The Loft Vancouver – 25 Gore Avenue
List of participating artists: FirstSaturday.ca

Stacks of Antique Wooden Stools

On a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery last week with my friend Mary Anne Tateishi, I was thrilled to see this installation by Ai Wei Wei. It is made up of hundreds of antique wooden stools, stacked from floor to ceiling in a chaos of straight legs and circular seats.

ai weiwei

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It was impressive to see in person and get the chance to walk through. This took some special tools and dedications, for more info, visit bestroutertablepicks.com. This installation is the best thing to see at the VAG by far. It’s part of an exhibition on contemporary Chinese art that continues until April 6th, 2015.

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City: Eastside Culture Crawl Artists

For our November edition of Hot Talks we’ve partnered with the Eastside Culture Crawl to present an evening of short talks by eight artists participating in this year’s Crawl. It was a difficult selection process choosing from among the hundreds of talented artists who take part in the studio tour every year, but I made sure to choose a wide variety of disciplines.

Our speakers for the evening are Michelle Sirois Silver, Jon Shaw, Holly Cruise, Claire Madill, Patsy Kay Kolesar, Reilly Lievers, David Robinson, and Robin Ripley.

ECC-HAWC-HOTTALKS

Each artist will share a bit about their process and work in a short “Show & Tell” style talk on November 13th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.

Hot Talks: Eastside Culture Crawl
Hot Art Wet City
Date: November 13th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver

Exhibition: Intricate Intimacy at Kafka

At last I have an invitation and details to share about my upcoming exhibition at Kafka Coffee & Tea. The show is titled, Intricate Intimacy, and it will feature a series of new paper cut pieces, as well as drawings, and small pieces combining both paper cut and drawing.

Intricate Intimacy Postcard2
Intricate Intimacy Postcard1

The show opens Friday October 24th, 8pm to 10pm, with the exhibition continuing until December 1st. There’s a Facebook event page if you’d like to RSVP or share details about this with friends.

Intricate Intimacy
Kafka Coffee & Tea
Opening Friday October 24th, 8pm to 10pm
Dates: October 23rd to December 1st, 2014
Address: 2525 Main Street at Broadway

Thread Installation by Hot Tea

I dropped by Burrard Arts gallery space yesterday afternoon to see Drawing On The Past, a small show curated by Booooooom, and was pleased to see this thread installation by Hot Tea. I’ve seen photos of this on Instagram shared by other people, but it’s even better in person.

Thread installation by Hot Tea

Hot Tea was the artist in residence over the summer at Burrard Arts. He creates public and installation art almost exclusively with yarn. You may have noticed a few isometric forms on chain link fences around the city, and this is also the work of Hot Tea.

Thread installation by Hot Tea
Installation by Hot Tea

Thread installation by Hot Tea

I am inspired by this installation because it takes the simple material of yarn and transforms it into a three dimensional piece. It has me itching to create a new yarn tree somewhere, but maybe I should just find a chain link fence…

Human Structures

It feels like an exciting time in Vancouver arts at the moment because of the work being done by Vancouver Biennale. There were installs of new public art pieces around the city over the summer, including the huge new mural by Os Gemeos on Granville Island and the sculpture pictured here by Jonathan Borofsky.

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Untitled

It was a beautiful day to be outside on Saturday so I decided to walk over to Olympic Village, where this is installed, and take a look. It’s in a great location along the seawall with plenty of space around it. The work is made of painted and molded galvanized steel, featuring pixelated colourful figures stacked to the sky. It’s a striking sculpture and will be a welcome splash of colour in the area when the rainy days finally come around.

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Untitled

Untitled

Visit the Vancouver Biennale website to learn more, and for a short audio tour of the work.

Instagram for Artists Workshop

The Eastside Culture Crawl is offering a few workshops related to professional development for their participating artists. On Tuesday September 23rd I will be teaching the workshop, Instagram for Artists.

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Instagram is a mobile-based photo sharing app with 100 million active users, and the favourite Social Media tool for creative people. Rachael Ashe will demonstrate the potential of Instagram as a means for showcasing artwork, sharing process, and engaging a local and international online audience. The workshop will include a thorough exploration of Instagram functionality, how to use hashtags, apps to use with Instagram, building an audience, promoting your work etc.

I’ve taught this workshop a few times to small groups of artist friends and the feedback has been positive. I use Instagram daily to share my work, and I think it’s one of the best tools around for creative people.

Please visit the Eastside Culture Crawl website to sign up for this workshop »

New Work By M.A. Tateishi and a Show in Harrison

My friend M.A. Tateishi has an exhibition of new paintings at the Ranger Station Art Gallery in Harrison, BC. The show opened this past weekend so Boris and I decided to use it as an opportunity to go on a road trip adventure.

On Saturday morning we hopped in a Car2Go (because we don’t have a car of our own) and headed into the Fraser Valley. We made a few stops along the way to buy fresh local fruits and veggies, do a little thrifting at Value Village in Chilliwack, and grab to-go lemon sour cream pie from the Chilliwack Airport Coffee Shop (aka I Fly For Pie).

Pictured here are four new mixed media paintings by M.A. Tateishi. These are large 48″ x 48″ bold works with multiple layers of paper, paint, and resin on wood panel. It’s a tough call but I think Bumbleberry Pie is my favourite of the new work.

strawberrypie

strawberrypie

Born Again

Born Again

Raspberry Pie

Raspberry Pie

The show continues in Harrison for the month of September. View more photos of the work on M.A. Tateishi’s blog.