Vancouver Is Awesome is a proud media partner of this year's Gallery Hop Vancouver! Watch this space over the coming days for previews and insight on the free tours and talks taking place during this year's event!
Written by: Nives Hajdin
The Canadian Art Foundation’s annual Gallery Hop returns to Vancouver on April 27 with a day of free talks and tours around the city. The idea of “hopping” and movement is central to Vancouver’s geographic identity–the traversal between mainland and island, from the distant mountaintops to the downtown building tops, to the air, land, and water in between. With the steady output of new art, exhibitions and ideas, it is a city that is in constant cultural flux.
Presented in partnership with the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver, VanHop kicks off with a morning panel discussion featuring artists Charles Stankievech and Kara Uzelman and curator Cate Rimmer as they speak to CAF Program and Outreach Manager Christine Shaw about air, land, and sea in relation to their respective practices. The day continues with various gallery tours around the city, including Main Street, Downtown, Great Northern Way, Gastown/Chinatown, and a look at the city’s public art. It is impossible to see absolutely everything on the tours, and as a result, the need to “hop” is of particular importance. One can follow the schedules accordingly, hopping from gallery-to-gallery, or one can develop his or her own “mix and match” schedule and hop from neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood to see and hear as many artists, curators, and gallery directors as possible.
The Hop concludes at the Vancouver Art Gallery for the launch of the Spring issue of Canadian Art, where the first floor will be transformed into a majestic hotel lobby as part of the upcoming exhibition Grand Hotel, conceived by Jennifer M. Volland and co-curated by Bruce Grenville and Stephanie Rebeck. The exhibition has been in the making for over six years and offers a look at the representation of the hotel in popular culture and its role as a place of momentary reprieve. Within the context of VanHop, it functions as an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, as well as a resting point between one adventure and the next. While guests sleep, others are always coming and going, and the hotel continually supports this transition from mobility to stasis and vice versa before we are all on our way once more.
Jason McClean, BOOP: For Ray, courtesy smart Canada
The Canadian Art Foundation and smart Canada will also be presenting Jason McLean’s BOOP: For Ray, a smart “fortwo electric drive” car. McLean’s smart car features cartographic designs that position it within the geographic and social fabric of the city, and will feature music specifically composed for the event. In addition, McLean will be creating a limited artist edition of drawings on plastic sleeves for magazine takeaways. On the 27th, the car will be on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery to mark the fusion of (smart) design and (Canadian) art, and reflects the influence of the city’s topography on the life of the artist.
Join us on April 27 for an exciting day of art, conversation, and hopping!
For more information visit canadianart.ca/vancouverhop.
