Joi T. Arcand, “Northern Pawn, South Vientam - North Battleford, Saskatchewan,” 2009
from the series “otē nīkān misiwē askīhk - Here On Future Earth” (courtesy the artist and Saskatchewan Arts Board permanent collection)
Capture, Metro Vancouver’s month-long photography festival, launches April 5 with The Blue Hour, a group show at the Contemporary Art Gallery that features work by five artists who question photography’s relationship with the notion of time.
Nationally and internationally known Canadian artists Joi T. Arcand, Kapwani Kiwanga, Colin Miner and Kara Uzelman are joined by Grace Ndiritu, a Kenyan / British artist. Their work is featured not only inside the gallery, but on the exterior façade and at three off-site locations in downtown Vancouver.
Festival organizers emphasize that participating artists make lens-based work rather than straight-up photographs, part of an effort to broaden public understanding of a contemporary art form that can include sculpture, performance, installation and more.
In all, the festival's website details some 200 exhibitions, public artworks and events.
Owen Kydd, “Three Houses,” 2018
adhesive pigmented print with video on UHD display (courtesy of the artist and Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver)
If the festival’s art pushes boundaries, so too do the venues: everything from well-established commercial galleries like Equinox and Monte Clark, to coffee shops and unusual places such as the HiVE Vancouver Society, which describes itself as a “community hub for social impact.” There are also two rental vans that move about town. Visitors must check the Internet to find out where the vehicles are parked on any given day. With the so-called Van Galleries, artists Sally Buck (Open City) and Kent Lins (Sweet Dense City) offer a creative solution to the challenges facing unrepresented artists in a city with prohibitive rents.
Kent Lins, “Blue Density,” 2017
composite photo, 24’’ x 32’’
HiVE is a co-working space that also curates art exhibitions every four to five months. It’s the second time the society has participated in Capture. The Great Big Vancouver Paradox features two artists and 16 photo-based images. “I really want viewers to question whether or not Vancouver is a great city to live in,” says curator Krystal Paraboo. “We’re supposed to be the greenest city by 2020, so we’re doing well at tackling environmental sustainability, and yet it is one of the most expensive cities to live in. We aren’t doing well with lower-income and homeless people.” The show contrasts scenic wilderness images by Vitor Leão with gritty urban street scenes by Emilia Wilson.
Vitor Leão, “The Fog,” 2016
The Pipe Shop in North Vancouver is a catering and event coordination business in a restored heritage industrial building that supports artists. For Capture, it is hosting the group show, I Was a Teenage Skateboarder in the ’90s, which examines Canadian skateboarding culture as it spread beyond the confines of skateboard parks into the larger urban environment. This exhibition promises to show how the “big pants, small wheels” aesthetic developed.
Jody Morris, “McCrank and billboard,” 1990s
Meanwhile, in the trendy False Creek Flats area, take time to visit Hank Bull’s studio. Bull, a fixture in the Vancouver alternative scene, is presenting an exhibition of new works in his Box series.
Hank Bull, “Palindrome,” no date
photographic lightjet print, 31.5" x 39.4" (courtesy of Franc Gallery)
Travelling further afield, the Stir Coffee House in Ladner ambitiously features work by six artists in Idling South of the Tunnel. The show focuses on how transportation has affected communities south of the Massey Tunnel. ■
Ronan Considine, “Fueling Traffic,” 2018
photography, 20" x 30"