The three current exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Painting from Glasgow Museums, How Do I Fit This Ghost In My Mouth? An Exhibition by Geoffrey Farmer, and Residue: Persistence of the Real represent a tour de force of both traditional and contemporary art forms.
Of Heaven and Earth showcases works from the 14th to 19th centuries. This chronological approach allows the viewer to appreciate the changing styles of art from the earliest Renaissance paintings of a religious nature to the later paintings of secular scenes and portraits.
While works of Bellini and Botticelli are present, the two highlights of the show are both by unknown artists. Adoration of the Magi (c. 1503–1510) is beautifully painted and shows what can only be described as an intimate look into a famous Biblical scene. The other is Vanitas (c. 1650–1660), which highlights the heightened sense of realism that came out of the Renaissance. As such, all the objects on the canvas have a depth that makes the viewer want to reach into the canvas and pick them up. The opportunity to see these artworks in Vancouver should not be passed up.
How Do I Fit This Ghost In My Mouth? An Exhibition by Geoffrey Farmer embraces all that multi-media installations have to offer. There is a sense of memory that flows as an undercurrent throughout the entire exhibition. Memory is explored by using space and sound in conjunction with works that could be stand-alone pieces.
The unexpected and discordant sounds that play while one walks through the exhibition create a feeling of discord that shocks the viewer back into looking at the art. This is not an unpleasant sensation, but one that speaks to how memory and perception are linked and enhances the understanding of the work.
Although The Last Two Million Years (exhibition copy 2013) is impressive in scale and detail, it pales in comparison to Let’s Make the Water Turn Black (2013–2015) and The Surgeon and the Photographer (2009–ongoing). Let’s Make the Water Turn Black is homage to Frank Zappa and his developments in xenochrony or strange time. It is like stepping into a Tim Burton film in the best way imaginable — where light, sound, and sculpture are choreographed in a manner that changes the meaning of the work every time it is viewed.
The Surgeon and the Photographer is a time consuming work to look at. It consists of 365 individual small-scale sculptures, each with an accompanying story, poem, or title, located in a book that the viewer carries throughout the exhibition. It was fascinating to wander about and read the book before finding the matching sculpture.
Residue: Persistence of the Real is a multi-artist exhibition that focuses on photography and film, and the relationship that objects and ideas have to the perception of what is real and what is art. Featuring Babak Golkar’s Return Project (2014–ongoing) and Geoffrey James’ Inside Kingston Penitentiary (2013), the concept of the persistence of the real is explored to its full extent.
The photographs of these two works showcase objects and images that were not created by the artist, but simply photographed as a record of their existence. The physicality of this is most clear with Golkar’s work, while James’ focuses on the mental aspects by showing prison art and objects. This exhibition is well done, but I found it underwhelming in comparison to the previous two exhibitions.
I would recommend visiting these three exhibitions, but it would be best to start on the 4th floor and work down to the 1st to avoid an anticlimactic end to your visit.
Of Heaven and Earth is on until October 4, How Do I Fit This Ghost In My Mouth? is on until September 7, and Residue: Persistence of the Real is on until September 27. For more information, visit vanartgallery.bc.ca.
