HONOUR BOUND: Check Out The Holiday Art Market At Gastown’s “Catalog Gallery”

Tonight, Gastown’s Catalog Gallery throws down with a holiday salon showcasing a selected pool of local talent. Check out work from: Indigo, Nomi Chi, Graeme Berglund, Heather Passmore, Matias Armendaris, Andy Dixon, Ben Skinner, Zoe Pawlak, David T. Cho, Scott Sueme, Peter Taylor, Duncan Lewis, Megan Wall, Other, Ben Tour, Eric Cruikshank, Chris Von Szombathy, Ronan Boyle, Scott Sueme, Meghan Paterson, Alanna Scott, Jennilee Marigomen, Alex Rhek, George Vergette, Dan Climan, Ryan Smith, Hana Pesut, Warren Spicer, Kaput Tupaky, Andrea Wan, Werd, and Viktor Briestensky. Small gallery, a lot of art. Should be fun.

Thursday, December 8 | 7pm-late | Catalog Gallery (56 Powell St) Show runs until – 24th.

Honour Bound details many of the cool things that we feel particularly “honour bound” to check out because they either represent Vancouver exceptionally well or are inherently awesome.

The Scout List: A Curated Agenda For Discerning Vancouverites

The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit. The Scout List is our carefully considered, first rate agenda of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours… Read more

Seen In Vancouver #324: Taking In The Weekend’s Amazing Eastside Culture Crawl

by Morna Cassidy | Friday night’s launch of the Eastside Culture Crawl brought out the city’s aesthetes and scenesters alike and, as a recent migrant to the beautiful west coast, I was no exception. My initiation into this festival was opening night at 1000 Parker Street; a night of open doors and open minds; a night of revelry and visual overload.

Images by Kin Chan and Morna Cassidy

Approaching the host venue is awe inspiring in and of itself. The façade is captured in many images promoting Vancouver’s art scene; it truly is a building with an obvious past and, more notably, a building with presence. Next time around I would recommend a compass for navigating the labyrinth of hallways. I’m still not certain if I hit all the studios, but I did feel a little like Alice In Wonderland while exploring these spaces, which were unbound by the arbitrary flow of the typical trade show type of exhibition. Travelling the crooked floors and uneven staircases, which only helped to convey the evening’s inherent sense of adventure, I quickly realized that there was as much art to the building as there was in its studios.

Wandering from room to room, the sheer exposure to art was at times overwhelming. While some of the host artists seemed dour and unapproachable, the more humble among them ranked highest on my list of the most impactful. The works ranged from tired, west-coast-folkish to truly astounding creations of artistic vision, the sort that makes the Eastside Culture Crawl an arts festival comparable to the best in the world. Stand outs were oil painter Cybele Ironside, interior designers New Leaf, and mixed media artist Shari Pratt. From metal workers, leather graphers, and furniture designers to photographers, painters, screen printers, and glass blower, the neighbourhood probably has more working artists in residence than Florence did during the Renaissance, and it showed.

As an incubator of creativity, The Crawl sets Vancouver apart and reminds us that there is no better way to become infatuated with a neighbourhood than to be a house guest of its artists. While I can now technically call my self a Vancouver resident, I still feel like a visitor at times. The Crawl made me feel at home.

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A self-professed lover of all things newsworthy and noteworthy, Morna Cassidy is an avid follower and critic of art and design, culture and trends. Previously working among the glitterati of the fashion world in Toronto and London, she recently left her sequined outfits to explore new adventures in Gore-tex (metaphorically speaking) here in Vancouver.

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EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL: With Chrystale Thompson & Jeremy Van Nieuwkerk Of Melk

Melk is a collaboration of curious craft-making between local Vancouver designers Chrystale Thompson of Ecstatic Design & Communication and Jeremy Van Nieuwkerk of Shrapnel Design. We’re aiming to build an Eastside Culture Crawl game plan this weekend that involves a quick bite of sushi at Fujiya and a look see at Chrystale and Jeremy’s studio (just around the corner on Clark). We caught up with the duo the other day to ask them a few questions about our creative city and the Crawl…

Three things about your East Van that made you want to set up shop there: We love the people and community. It’s gritty elements and constant transformation make it quite inspiring. It’s also where we live. Our home is 4 blocks from our studio, which makes for an easy commute.

What will Vancouverites find at Melk? Warm cedar, white walls and black vinyl installations around the studio. Our art pieces are hung in the main showroom aside a selection of shirts, book bags, stainless steel cuffs and belt buckles. We also started a line of vinyl wall art and screen printed goods that are a lot of fun – moustaches, bears, birds, bikes and such.

How many years have you participated in the Eastside Culture Crawl? This will be our 5th year.

Three words you would use to describe the ECC to someone who had never attended: Overwhelming, inspiring, community.

What inspires you at Melk? Nature, human behavior and relationships. Current events and politics also seep in there quite a bit. We try to practice a “use every part of the buffalo” philosophy using leftover materials and transforming them into new objects of desire. Read more

EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL: A Few Minutes With Local Painter Kerensa Haynes

The Eastside Culture Crawl (November 18, 19, 20) is hands-down one of the best things about Vancouver during November. It’s the time of year when painters, sculpters, jewellery designers, carvers, photographers, potters, furniture designers, glass blowers and printmakers open their eastside studios to the public. The resulting nightly vibe of the already cool-as-hell neighbourhood rises to awesome levels. The Crawl covers the area between Terminal Avenue to Burrard Inlet between Main Street and Victoria Drive (handy map). This year there will be over 300 artists participating. That’s a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of artists to meet, so we figure it’s a good idea to meet a few of them in advance so as to better familiarise ourselves (and yourselves) with what to expect. Meet Kerensa Haynes.

“I explore expressionism, impressionism, realism and abstraction in my art.  When painting I let my intuitive mind reveal itself, the layers of oil represent my different emotions.  I am interested in perception, how we all perceive life from our own personal experience.  The subject matter in the painting is somewhat secondary.  My work challenges the way everyday images are perceived, so, for example, a pear is not simply just a pear but it becomes the state of mind of the audience.”

Three things about Mount Pleasant that make you want to live there: Biltmore Cabaret, The Lee Building (c1912), and the fact that most of my good friends live nearby.

How many years have you participated in the Eastside Culture Crawl? This will be my third year in the Crawl. I’m at 1000 Parker Street, Studio 350.

Three words you would use to describe the ECC to someone who had never attended: Explosive. Intimate. Original.

A one sentence artist’s statement to describe your work: The possibilities of an everyday object are explored visually and psychologically . You can see this here. Read more

ART THUG: “PennySmash” Currently Impressing At The Vancouver Art Gallery

If more people put their money where there mouths were, we wouldn’t have to listen to wankers whining about cuts to public arts funding. Scott Hawthorn and Todd Falkowsky have put together something that might help to drown the din: PennySmash. For $2.01, you can can produce a squished penny with your choice of four motifs. I like the design by Natalie Purschwitz. Essentially a button kit, with instructions clearly defining where you need to drill the holes. You can also get “The East Van Cross”, which is sure to be a crowd pleaser. PennySmash is currently on display in the Vancouver Art Gallery, generating funds to help foster creative projects in Vancouver (a capital notion, indeed).

EASTSIDE CULTURE CRAWL: A Few Minutes With First Time Participant Kari Kristensen

The Eastside Culture Crawl (November 18, 19, 20) is hands down one of the best things about Vancouver during November. It’s the time of year when Eastside painters, sculpters, jewellery designers, carvers, photographers, potters, furniture designers, glass blowers and printmakers open their studios to the public an the vibe of the already cool-as-hell neighbourhood rises to unprecedented levels of awesomeness. The Crawl covers Terminal Avenue to Burrard Inlet between Main Street and Victoria Drive. That’s a lot of ground to cover and a lot of artists to meet. This year there will be over 300 participating, so we figure it’s a good idea to meet a few in advance in order to better familiarise ourselves (and perhaps you) with what to expect. Meet Kari Kristensen. This is her first year as a participant. We caught up with her while she was taking a breather in Paris and asked her about what she had planned for her inaugural Crawl weekend.

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: I’ve lived in East Van since I moved here 9 years ago. I love East Van. I am walking distance to the drive and all of its great restaurants and food shops. There’s also an expanding restaurant scene happening on Hastings Street, which is fantastic. I am close enough to my studio that I can walk or bike there. And lastly, I live across the street from Trout Lake which is great for exercise for me and my little dog.

How many years have you participated in the Eastside Culture Crawl? I’m excited about this year being my first as an artist. My previous studio was on Granville Island, a terrific little shop for printmakers called Dundarave. I moved into 1000 Parker Street almost a year ago for a change of venue and to specifically be part of the Crawl. of course, I’ve gone to the Crawl almost every year.

Three words you would use to describe the ECC to someone who had never attended: Fun, inspirational, eye-opening. Of course, I’ll have to get back to you after the 20th to see if my opinion has changed.

Why is Vancouver a good city for art? Vancouver, and BC in general, has a rich art historical foundation that’s endlessly impressive. This is the the city of Jack Shadbolt, Arthur Erickson, Emily Carr, Toni Onley, Bill Reid, Robert Davidson…you can’t help but be inspired when you see their work around. Read more

Smoke Break #891: Documentary Short On The Work Of Artist/Metalsmith Gary Schott

Charming as all get out:

The attention to detail in each piece is astounding, from the early detailed sketches and balsa wood models, to the selection of materials, and even the color of fabric—all to create a tiny device, the sole purpose of which is to gently evoke a smile, to express, in the words of the artist, an action of love.

via Colossal.

TAKE ANOTHER SMOKE BREAK

The Scout List: A Curated Agenda For Discerning Vancouverites

The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit.

The Scout List is our carefully considered, first rate agenda of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours… Read more

#VANCOUVER WOULD BE COOLER IF #171: The MOV Hooked Up With Our Tattoo Artists

Hey, Museum of Vancouver! In Portland, your colleagues have partnered up with local artists to provide the public with free tattoos. Maybe get in on that is all we’re trying to say. Thanks.

MORE WAYS TO IMPROVE VANCOUVER

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