Spring is blooming in Vancouver and so are art shows.

Attended the opening of Seymour Art Gallery's Serious Women Artists: Don't Do Flowers. The exhibition has been organized and curated by Kriss Boggild and includes the work of: Amona Ra, Cindy Anderson, Lois Klassen, Elizabeth Mancini, Elaine Mari, Bettina Matzkuhn, Alice Philips, Katherine Polgrain, Famous Empty Sky, Kathy Tycholis, Mia Weinberg and Madeleine Wood. The show runs in Deep Cove April 15 to May 11, 2008.

This past weekend there was also an international sonic and media show at Video In Video Out Media Gallery here in Vancouver called Signal + Noise. I found the show to be very good this year with the theme being Media Intercourse. The pieces were very engaging and represented a wide cross section of what is going on in media arts today. The show ran April 16, 17, and 18. If you missed it stay tuned to next year at this time.

As mentioned in a previous post the Cue Up Collective of which I am a member, is hosting Hospitality nights at Video In Video Out the last Tuesday of every month. Guests are invited to present their special take on the idea of hospitality which often engages the audience to directly participate, and follows with producers screening their lastest works for critical feedback. The next event, with guest host Greg Borowski, will be at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at VIVO 1965 Main Street, Vancouver.



And finally, 7 - 9pm May 3 will be the opening of the undergraduate show at Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design. This year 350 undergrads will show works in a variety of media in the Concourse Gallery and the South Building, 1399 and 1400 Johnston Street on Granville Island in Vancouver. The show runs 10 am to 6pm daily, May 4 - 11.

2008 marks the inaugural graduate student exhibition for the Master of Applied Arts Program. The Graduate Exhibition takes place May 1 - 11 at the ECI Studios, located at 1535 West 3rd Avenue. Opening reception is at 7pm, April 30.

It's been a busy winter for attending art shows and openings.

Took in the Georgia O'Keefe show at the Vancouver Art Gallery in November. Displayed were a variety of her work over the period of her career, many of which involved the desert of New Mexico.

Also in November attended the opening of Emma Hendrix and Julie Gendron's show 'don't stop' held at the CSA Gallery, which is formerly The Blanket Gallery. Their work was an interactive audio piece/installation which consisted of a number of white cubes that played an audio loop of a sound once you slotted it on a jack to a mixer. The interesting think is that you could have any number of loop sounds playing simultaneously and could even record your own sound into the box to play back. The ulimate result was an ever- changing and weaving mix of audio sounds and rythms. Quite a successful project I thought.

January brought a change in my video collective's Cue Up screening night held monthly at Video In Video Out. This year we will be dedicating the theme of Hospitality in choosing our guests and presentations. Our first guest was Jackline Ochieng, who hosts Kenyan dinners in the quest to display hospitality between cultures. While sipping on chai and eating Kenyan mondazi, videos were screened by the producers in the audience. Again, a very good turn out for the launch of this new themed night.

February 1st a artist friend of mine and I attended the opening of Derek Von Essen's show 'Horizons + Intersections III' at the new gallery on Main Street, the E.3rd Gallery. Though known for his paintings, Derek presented a set of digitally manipulated photographs of urban streets and freeways. The show addresses the modern presence through constructed environments with a fluid visual transitions.

Attended the exhibit of French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria several weeks back. This was a very comprehensive exhibition of over 60 works in bronze including studies for monumental works such as "The Gates of Hell,"

I went to check out the space that Blim has on Main Street today and at the same time to look at some arts and crafts for Blim/Terminus 1525 Canada Day Art Market. Nestled in the small gallery and spilling out onto the sidewalk were artists of all kinds plying their wares of small artworks to jewelry to clothing. Homecrafted jewelry, some made from rather creative materials and recycled goods predominated the market as did a host of small illustrations, many applied to stickers.

Both stickers and 1" buttons have become popular in the past couple of years, sometimes spawning mini art shows with very good attendance. I'm thinking here of the Hot 1" Action Shows which have been a yearly event here in Vancouver for the past four years.

Illustration has crossed the boundary of the advertising world to infiltrate the art world, I think due in part to the skateboard culture and graffiti artists. Now these stylized, miniature artworks can be applied to fridge magnets, jewelry, t-shirts, etc. and anyone can own a unique item.

I find these events fun to attend to see what is emerging with the younger artists in the community and to see some raw talent. Next time you hear of an artist market, do yourself a favor and buy a unique pair of earrings or a t-shirt and support a local young artist.

Summer is in the air and it's time once again to make the rounds of the local galleries to see some new work. Took in an afternoon opening at the Jacana Gallery of their latest show "Sweet Raw," featuring the new works of Siobhan Humston and Leah Rosenberg.

Using a mix of graphite and acrylic on panel Siobahn Humston explores nature in a playful and minimalist manner with daisy-like flowers floating on panels with paint drips and workings in graphite. While many of the pieces seem a little redunant in nature, the works still evoke a sense of joy and positiveness.

Leah Rosenberg, a Emily Carr Institute grad of 2003, continues her exploration of texture and decoration with a variety of works exploring the the darker side of what is deemed 'pretty.' Confidently pushing the boundaries of her mixed media, which includes unorthodox materials such as glitter, sequins and letraset, Rosenbereg creates a sense of time and nostalgia with the depth built into her pieces. On closer inspection, many pieces had a quality not unlike printmaking etches, with scoring and sanded areas. She decribes her work in the gallery press release as, "increasingly about the spontaneous over-the-top beauty of a child's imagination and the devastation of its failure." I feel these are her best pieces to date for their haunting quality.

Highlights in the exhibition include Humston's "Twilight Wrapped" and Rosenberg's "Snow White Tension." The show runs from June 1 - 25 at the Jacana Gallery on South Granville gallery row.