NORTH VANCOUVER ART TOUR

Arnt and I took a day off to head over to North Vancouver to check out a couple of art shows.  We had not been over there for quite a while and there are lots of changes in order to develop the waterfront.  They used a lot of the old equipment from the shipyards to keep the spirit of

the area. 

The stage roof is made from a recycled piece of metal.

an old crane is the entrance to the pier


 

the house at the top of the crane

another view of the crane

the feet allowed the crane to be moved around

an old truck that was used at the shipyard

a lot of the walls and stairwells have great textures

this bench is made from a machine that would add curves to metal sheets

this old storefront off Londsdale would make a fabulous studio

We then went to the International Pavilion which is run by the Vancouver Biennale.  The curator Marcello Dantas put together the show with several Brazilian artists.  They came for a visit to look at the space and to get a feel for Vancouver,  North Vancouver and BC.  Returning to their country they had a few months to plan out what they were going to do.  Each artist was asked to respond to the theme Open Borders/Crossroads Vancouver.  www.vancouverbiennale.com

 

Nathalia Garcia used a heavy duty thread to create CASTLE with donated mattresses.  It is attached to the building in order to create a relationship with the environment.  It is a large piece but you can feel the fragility of it through the tension of its construction.

Raul Mourao created SWING HD and SWING HN  from poles and connectors.  The rectangles are balanced on the other rectangle and you can push them quite hard.  It will then swing back and forth for about a half an hour.  They were our favourite two pieces.

Tulio Pinto's piece NADIR #5 is a masterpiece of balance and tension.  The 300 pound glass panels are held up by the hanging tied up rocks on either end and the cable goes through a ring in the middle rock.  The materials all relate to each other.  Rock to make sand to make glass.

 Juliana Cerqueira Leite with the help of her husband created INTERSECT.  We were not attracted to the end result but the process was quite interesting.  They had a box built on this wood structure and filled with clay.  They then each entered through holes in the bottom and by pushing the clay aside created the arch.  Their path was then filled with plaster to form the arch.  It is about relationships, communication and trust.

here is a fist imprint

would not be something I could do

A wall was created by local high school students from the leftover clay from that project.  The patterns were all created with tools and such left by various artists.  It was smooth when finished but has cracked but not fallen down in the 4 or so months that it has been there. 

Paulo Climachauska created this clay fortune cookie installation in front of a drawing he completed only using numbers.  It is a reference to the history of the Chinese settling here in BC. 

 Marcelo Moscheta created his ARBOR-VITAE installation with logs from the shoreline and a huge graphite tree drawing.  The logs will be returned to the same beach he got them from. 

A lot of the materials from most of the works will be recycled when the show is dismantled.  I like that, being an artist who uses recycled materials.

Stopped by North Shore Cityscape Gallery for a look at the show based on Alice in Wonderland.
nvartscouncil.ca

This textile piece called Jabberwocky by Catherine Nicholls made use of the looking glass.  To read the text you have to look in the mirror.  She used several methods in creating the words like applique, sewing and printing on fabric. 

 A very simple but sweet painting by Marney-Rose Edge called contemplation. 

Love, Love this work by Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk.  She is right up my alley with her use of recycling to create these whimsical pieces.

These drawings by Mariko Ando are amazing.  So much detail. 

The final piece we saw that day was Alice by Stephanie Jager.  A large digital photograph with beautiful colours. 

As we were leaving the gallery Arnt bought this lovely little painting of Ted Harris Paint which used to be our favourite paint store just a couple blocks from our house. The painter is Leef Evans.

Looking forward to their next show with my friend Carlyn Yandle and two other artists.