Last week, I participated in my first Canadian Art Foundation Art Gallery Hop. A friend and I chose the Chinatown/Gastown route, which took us to 5 different galleries: 221A, The Apartment, UNIT/PITT, Audain Gallery, and Trench Gallery.

At our first stop at 221A curated by Vanessa Kwan and Kimberly Phillips, we saw artist Kara Uzelman explore melancholy thoruhg her exhibition, “Straitform”. One of her pieces is like a cloud formation filled with detritus, there was even a sneaker in it! The curators explained how objects are indifferent to us, but we implore them to speak to us, yet they will outlast us. In Fluff’s world, we are surrounded by objects, and it’s interesting to bring light to how these items, or the idea of contemporary style, will live on.

Next up, Alan Belcher’s exhibit at The Apartment was an interesting one. He had a series of objects called “_____.jpg” and guess what they were inspired by? Yup, JPEGs! He talked about how in our digital day and age, most of the images we see are JPEGs, and how we can’t really own a jpeg. So he decided to make them instead. Clever.  

At the Audain Gallery, where the SFU Bachelor of Fine Arts program hosted their grad show, we came across a very Fluff style piece. It was a vignette with a chaise on its back. Patti suggested we take inspiration from the artist, but I don’t know how our clients would like their furniture turned upside down!

The Art Gallery Hop was a great hour and a half spent, and if you’re looking for inspiration, mark it down on your calendar for next year’s edition. The routes run on Main St, Yaletown, Downtown, and Great Northern Way as well. I’m definitely looking forward to exploring other galleries next year. 

~ Miranda