Spring Arts Preview Visual Arts critics’ picks

ourselves. The Draw: Boyle worked with an amusement park innovator to change the gallery into an interactive space.

By V.S. Wells

My great-grandmother was a painter. Why am I telling you this? Art is in everyone’s blood. Every artwork is a little piece of someone’s soul, and a reminder of our long history as creatures who crave creation.

AMY RICE: OH CANADA

AT 716 EAST HASTINGS GALLERY TO MARCH 25

> Amy Rice’s collection of mixed-media prints, created on vintage envelopes that were mailed to Canada, makes a connection between materials and images. The Draw: Pocket-sized, nostalgic images

SALÓN SILICÓN: SENOS DE HOMBRE

AT SUM GALLERY TO MARCH 25

> SUM’s opening exhibition of 2023 asks what a queer body looks like. The Draw: Ruby-red, fuzzy little dildos mix humour and sex with serious considerations.

JIN-ME YOON: LONG TIME SO LONG

AT THE ART GALLERY AT EVERGREEN TO APRIL 30

FRIDAY, MAY 5 / 7:30 p.m.

> Local superstar Jin-me Yoon’s new collection of multimedia work explores that elephant in the room: the COVID-19 pandemic. The Draw: A multilayered soundscape adds a dream-like edge.

AS WE RISE: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE BLACK ATLANTIC AT THE POLYGON GALLERY TO MAY 14

> In As We Rise, Black artists take photos of Black people, depicting them as they wish to be seen, as varied and idiosyncratic as a family photo album. The Draw: Dozens of artists in an exhibition that centres the familial and the familiar.

SHARY BOYLE: OUTSIDE THE PALACE OF ME

AT THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY FROM MARCH 4 TO JUNE 4

> Outside the Palace of Me takes the language of performance arts and mixes it with ceramics, drawings, and two-way mirrors to ask how we see each other and

CAPTURE PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS FROM APRIL 1 TO 30

> Taking over dozens of galleries and public spaces every April, Capture celebrates photography and film, connecting the public with gorgeous art and each other. The Draw: Everyone has a camera today; fine art photography reminds us it’s still an art.

WINTERS HOTEL: A SENSE OF PLACE

AT MRG: MACKENZIE HEIGHTS FROM APRIL 13

> When the Winters Hotel burned down and killed two residents, Yasmeen Strang’s photography changed from personal documentary into ponderous eulogy. The Draw: Local history lasting beyond the physical building.

A SMALL BUT COMFY HOUSE AND MAYBE A DOG

AT THE RICHMOND ART GALLERY FROM APRIL 22 TO JUNE 11

> Amy Ching-Yan Lam and HaeAhn Woo Kwon delve into the complexities of how colonialism shapes colonized peoples’ longing. The Draw: The eponymous dog is based on a pup stolen from China during the Second Opium War.

Things That Do Not Come By The Road

> AT THE MORRIS AND HELEN BELKIN ART GALLERY FROM MAY 5 TO JUNE 4

The annual exhibition of UBC’s Master of Fine Arts students answers the question: what do they teach kids in art school these days? The Draw: Students of today are the great masters of tomorrow.

CAMP: SITE 003CAMP

AT SLICE OF LIFE ART GALLERY FROM MAY 18 TO 23

> Laveen Gammie explores both camp(ing) as a part of “West Coast” culture; and camp as an exaggerated, kitschy aesthetic. The Draw: Affordable originals, merchandise, prints and fine art are all for sale in the cute and cozy Slice gallery space. GS