Art explores Vancouver’s global presence
Coastal City public exhibition shows international hub from many angles
A backlit still life made from plant species alien to the Lower Mainland is one of four artworks that have been installed as part of a new public art exhibition.
The exhibition is called Coastal City and includes 15 temporary art works that will be shown as part of the series, said Karen Henry, project co-ordinator for the City of Vancouver. Works will appear monthly through October.
Henry said Coastal City is a conceptual receptacle for artists to explore their own practices and interests.
“The idea of Coastal City is that Vancouver is growing and has a global presence,” Henry said.
“It’s on a border between land and sea, it’s on the Pacific Rim, it’s a place of exchange, it’s a port — it’s all those things.”
Alien Terrarium by Amanda Arcuri and Elisa Yon is on the Queen Elizabeth Plaza on West Georgia. Backlit at night, the work shows plants that are not native to Vancouver. It refers to how invasive plant species are more likely to be intro- duced in port cities such as Vancouver, which are visited by ships from around the world. Alien Terrarium is on display until October.
Vancouver Coastal: a nomad’s guide to the floating world by Paul de Guzman is in 20 transit shelters until June 12. The work combines text mimicking a city travel guide with images of flotsam on the shore and a visual quote from a classical Japanese print.
Nicolas Sassoon has created three high-contrast black-and-white digi- tal abstractions. The hypnotic videos are being shown at venues that include outdoor urban screens at Robson & Granville, CBC Plaza, the upper west face of the Telus Gardens buildings, and Terry Fox Plaza.
Deanne Achong’s Pier D is a photo mural on the east window of the Canada Line City Centre Station. The three portholes that comprise the mural recall the four-alarm fire on CPR Pier D on July 27, 1938. On display until October, the work includes altered archival images and a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to see a serialized diary of the era that changes daily.