TWO UPCOMING SEPTEMBER EVENTS!

We will soon be updating our website with all of the upcoming events in September and October. CASV members can also expect their first event invitation via eventbrite next week. Here are a couple events planned for September, and there will be more to come soon.

NEIGHBOURHOOD ART TOUR SERIES

New to the CASV this year, our programming for 2014-2015 will include a series of  neighbourhood art tours to galleries and artist-run project spaces. Focussing in on four different areas of Vancouver: Downtown, Mount Pleasant, Chinatown and Granville Street, the CASV looks forward to its members discovering new artists and art spaces throughout the city. 

MOUNT PLEASANT TOUR

Estimated tour time: between 2.5 - 3 hours   /  1:00 pm start time  /  3:45 pm estimated finish time

Join the CASV in surveying a selection of dedicated commercial and not-for-profit project spaces located in the Mount Pleasant Area. At each space the gallery directors will discuss their mandate and exhibition programming, a brief artist talk will follow, and CASV members can then take in  the exhibition at each destination. 

The three spaces we will be visiting in Mount Pleasant will be Burrard Arts Foundation, Field Contemporary and Fazakas Gallery. There are a myriad of interesting contemporary art spaces in this area, during the tour we will be sure to highlight other sites for future exploration.

Full details will be found within the official Eventbrite invitation that will be sent to all members soon.

Aganetha Dyck and Richard Dyck, Hive Scan 14 (2001-2003) photograph. 

Courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada and the artists.

EXHIBITION TOUR & RECEPTION

The CASV has partnered with the Surrey Art Gallery to present its members with a curator tour and reception.  Join us at the Surrey Art Gallery to take in a tour of the National Gallery of Canada's exhibition entitled Flora & Fauna. Curated by Ann Thomas and Andrea Kunard, the CASV is pleased to announce that Ann Thomas will lead the tour of this exhibition. Thomas is a curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Canada.

About the exhibition:

FLORA AND FAUNA: 400 years of artists inspired by nature

Organized by the National Gallery of Canada

At the Surrey Art Gallery

September 20 to December 14, 2014

Nature has been an enduring subject for artists across time and cultures. From the ancient garden frescoes at Pompeii to Dutch still-lifes, 19th century botanical studies and 21st century land art projects, nature has been either a simple fact of life or a source of curiosity, consolation, and spiritual regeneration. Flora and Fauna: 400 Years of Artists Inspired by Nature explores the natural world through paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and crafted objects. Responding to the richness and diversity of plant life and the creatures that occupy natural spaces, the artists in this exhibition express nature’s complexity and fragility in a variety of ways—from the epic and analytical to the detailed and intimate. This exceptionally varied exhibition, drawn mainly from the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, features 74 works dating from the 16th to the 21st centuries. Presenting a wide variety of media, scale, and style, it features the work of many great Canadian and international artists, including Shary Boyle, Jim Breukelman, Aganetha and Richard Dyck, Frederick Evans, Lucian Freud, Lorraine Gilbert, Geoffrey James, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Shary Boyle, Untitled (the Porcelain Fantasy series), 2005

Courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada.

About the Surrey Art Gallery:
 

Surrey Art Gallery is the second largest public art gallery in the Metro Vancouver region. Internationally recognized, the Gallery showcases diverse artistic practices, including digital and audio art, by local, national and international artists. Gallery interpretive programs include talks, symposia, demonstrations, workshops and school programs with artists, educators and other specialists.

Surrey Art Gallery's mission is to engage the public in an ongoing dialogue about issues and ideas that affect our numerous communities, as expressed through contemporary art, and to provide opportunities for the public to interact with artists and the artistic process. It accomplishes these aims through exhibitions, programs, and publications of contemporary art. To meet its mandate, the Surrey Art Gallery also acquires, manages, researches, preserves, and exhibits work from its contemporary art collection, held in trust for present and future citizens of the City of Surrey. The Gallery focuses on contemporary art made since 1975.

Surrey Art Gallery is a municipal art gallery, supported by the Surrey Art Gallery Association and funding from individuals, organizations, and operating and project grants from the Arts Council of British Columbia and the Canada Council for the Arts.

A YEAR IN REVIEW

Having just wrapped up our AGM, we are already starting to prepare the fall studio visits, events and receptions.

But before we give you a sneak peak into what is coming up, we thought we would do a year in review of everywhere we have been and everything we have seen. Forward this post onto friends you think may want to Join the CASV as it gives them great insight into what the membership includes.  Here's to a great 2014-2015 season kicking off in September!


CASV A YEAR IN REVIEW:

- 10+ Studio visits including visits to: Dana Claxton, Jordy Hamilton, Roselina Hung, Fiona Ackerman, Beau Dick, Dan Starling and Diyan Achjadi, Evann Siebens and more...

- 2 public talks, one by Kim Dorland in conjunction with Emily Carr University and another by Hammad Nasar in conjunction with Centre A and SFU.

Young Girl by Kim Dorland

- 2 gallery talks one at Equinox Gallery with Adad Hannah about his Ophelia work and is upcoming exhibition and another coming up on the 6th of June with Colleen Heslin at Monte Clark gallery.

The Raft of the Medusa by Adad Hannah

- An interesting collection tour of the Hotel Georgia's collection by Farmboy Fine Arts.

Artwork at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver

- A public site visit and artist talk about the artwork with artist Vanessa Kwan

Geyser by Vanessa Kwan

- The second CASV Emerging Artist Prize and Exhibition event at Access Gallery.

Emerging Artist Prize Exhibition at Access Gallery 2014

- Two private collection tours and an amazing CASV Paris Trip.

- Art Tours of Gastown, Great Northern Way, Main Street and Chinatown with the Canadian Art Hop

- Two artist panels, one at the Richmond Art Gallery on curating and another public conversation on painting with the Vanhop at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Rachel Rosenfeld Lafo, Donna Partridge, Kate Bellringer and Wil Aballe at the Richmond Art Gallery

As the 2013-2014 season winds down before it gears up again in the fall, we hope you will join us for Colleen Heslin's talk at Monte Clark Gallery on the 6th of June. She will be discussing her exhibition that is opening the following day. Here is a link to the details and your invite should already be in your inbox. http://www.casv.ca/artist-talks/artist-talk-with-colleen-heslin

New work by Colleen Heslin

EMERGING ARTIST PRIZE - CONGRATULATIONS TO JOSEPH STAPLES

We are pleased to announce this year's winner of the CASV Emerging Artist's prize: JOSEPH STAPLES. Thank you to Access Gallery for hosting the exhibition this year, and to all the participating judges and submitting artists. The next iteration of the Contemporary Art Society's Emerging Artist Prize will take place in 2016. 

Emerging Artist Prize Chair - Rachel Rosenfeld Lafo and this year's Winner Joseph Staples.

CASV Emerging Artist Prize Exhibition installed at Access Gallery in Vancouver.

The winner of the second Contemporary Art Society Emerging Artist’s Prize is Joseph Staples, who was awarded $3000 at last night’s opening of the CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize Exhibition at Access Gallery. Jury members Grant Arnold, Vanessa Kwan, Sarah Macaulay, Kimberly Phillips, and Reid Shier selected Staples from a field of five finalists. The jurors recognized the quality of work of all five finalists, who were chosen from a field of 89 entries.

Staples’ work, along with that of the other four finalists, Derya Akay, Byron Peters, Laura Piasta, and Erdem Tasdelen,who each received a $500 award, is on view through May 31, 2012 at Access Gallery, 222 E. Georgia Street, Vancouver.http://accessgallery.ca/

Staples’ works with found images and photography through collage and printmaking. His project for this exhibition revolves around real estate, printmaking, failure and the unknown. The jurors noted how the work Staples submitted for the exhibition builds on his earlier work but represents an exciting new direction for the artist, demonstrating a more complex reference to the urban landscape. Staples has exhibited locally at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Equinox Gallery, Wil Aballe Art Projects, Malaspina Printmakers and abroad.

This CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize was established in 2011 to encourage and support artists within the first five years of their careers, and is the only one of its kind in Vancouver selected through an open competition.

The prize is entirely funded by donations of CASV members and supporters. The CASV is a not-for-profit membership-based organization founded in 1977 that focuses on promoting an appreciation and understanding of Contemporary Art. Members enjoy studio visits, art trips, collection visits and lectures by prominent artists, critics, collectors, designers, architects and fine art professionals. For more information about CASV visit the website: http://www.casv.ca/.

CASV International Art Tour – Paris 2014

Jean Pierre Raynaud installation, photo by Holly

From June 3^rd to the 8^th, thirteen members of the Vancouver Contemporary Art Society (CASV) will be exploring the contemporary art scene of Paris.  Paris has a brilliant and dynamic contemporary art scene and it is my great pleasure to be able to share this opportunity with my friends and fellow members.  My focus is to demonstrate the excellent level of quality and innovation that is my experience with exhibitions in Paris though a diversity of forms including collection visits, private exhibition tours and studio visits.

Highlights of the tour will include a visit to the hippest and most experimental art institution in Paris, the Palais de Tokyo, with a ‘behind the scenes’ preview of their “in progress” art installation by Argentinian artist Eduardo Basualdo and a chance to talk with the artist and curator about it.  We will meet with the collectors associations Sam Art Projects and ADIAF (Association for the International Diffusion of French Art) who show tremendous support for the development and promotion of French artists through initiatives such as the Duchamp Prize.  The Duchamp Prize is France’s equivalent to the U.K.’s Turner Prize, initiated and supported by ADIAF.  At the recommendation of top art collectors, we will experience studio visits with definitive French artists Jean Pierre Raynaud, Jean-Michel Othoniel and Xavier Veilhan. 

Parisian galleries represent many of the world’s most important internationally renowned artists.  Emmanuel Perrotin, for example, launched the career of art superstar Takashi Murakami, being the first to exhibit Murakami’s work outside of Japan.  Perrotin, who will be one of our hosts, was named by British daily newspaper, the Guardian, “One of the most powerful people in the art world.”  He has successfully placed two of his artists in collaboration with the Palace Versailles where their work was installed throughout the palace grounds.  The CASV is fortunate to be visiting the studio of two of Perrotin’s artists, including Xavier Veilhan who is one of very few contemporary artists to receive the very rare privilege of exhibiting at Chateau Versailles.  We are also most fortunate to be invited by Kamel Mennour to experience his solo exhibition of Anish Kapoor, one of the world’s most important artists of the moment. 

Highlights of private and public contemporary art collections include a trip to the Champagne region for the “Pommery Experience” curated by the Director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Florence Derieux. The collection has been installed in the champagne cellars or caves, which are actually limestone and chalk pits from the 1800’s.  This fusion of old and new is something that is so definitive of French contemporary art and therefore an integral part of our tour.

The Pommery Experience reveals another definitive factor of the French art world – corporate sponsorship.  French luxury brands like YSL, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and liquor distributors like Pommery, Ricard and many others, have been integral in supporting the contemporary arts, often through project and event sponsorship, corporate collections, and collaborations.  LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) has invited the CASV to join them for cocktails in their private exhibition space, Espace Culturel, overlooking the Champs Elysees, while hearing about their current exhibition by L.A. artist and feminist, Andrea Bowers.

I am thrilled to share these and other unique experiences of the brilliant art world of Paris with members of the CASV!

- Holly Marie Armishaw

Lunar Asparagus by Patrick Laroche

The tour has been organized by the volunteer efforts of Holly Marie Armishaw who will also lead the tour.  Armishaw is a contemporary, Vancouver-based artist, and serves on the CASV Board of Directors.  www.hollyarmishaw.com

The CASV gratefully acknowledge support from the following:

PSST... HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE EMERGING ARTIST'S PRIZE FINALISTS?

Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver Announces

Finalists for 2014 Emerging Artist’s Prize

The Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver (CASV) has announced five finalists for the 2014 CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize, a competition open to emerging artists in the Lower Mainland. The biennial prize was established in 2011 to encourage and support artists within the first five years of their careers, and is the only one of its kind in Vancouver selected through an open competition.

Chosen from among 89 applicants, the five are:

• Derya Akay
• Byron Peters
• Laura Piasta
• Joseph Staples
• Erdem Tasdelen

The distinguished jury of art professionals who selected the finalists are: 

• Grant Arnold (Audain Curator of British Columbia Art, Vancouver Art Gallery)
• Vanessa Kwan, artist and programmer
• Sarah Macaulay (Macaulay Fine Art)
• Kimberly Phillips (Director/Curator of Access Gallery)
• Reid Shier (Director of Presentation House Gallery)

The selected artists work in a wide range of contemporary art practices, including video, installation, sculpture, painting, sound, collage, printmaking, photography, and ceramics. 

Their work will be exhibited at Access Gallery (accessgallery.ca) in Vancouver from May 17 - 31, with an opening reception on Thursday, May 22 from 7 – 10pm. 

The winner of the $3000 prize will be announced at 7:30 pm on the night of the opening.

“We are pleased that for this second competition so many talented artists applied,” says CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize Chair, Rachel Lafo, “and look forward to the exhibition of their work and the juror’s selection of the prize winner. We hope that the recognition the artists receive is a further validation of their artistic efforts.”

The prize is entirely funded by donations of CASV members and supporters. The CASV is a not-for-profit membership-based organization founded in 1977 that focuses on promoting an appreciation and understanding of Contemporary Art. Members enjoy studio visits, art trips, and lectures by prominent artists, critics, collectors, designers, architects and fine art professionals from North America and abroad. To join CASV visit the website: www.casv.ca.

MEDIA CONTACT: Aderyn Davies, aderynd@gmail.com, 778-836-2334

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www.casv.ca
info@casv.ca

AGM - SAVE THE DATE

CASV - Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting for the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver will be on Thursday May 29  - please save the date!

We'll send out reminders and info on the location of the AGM shortly.

See you soon. 

BOARD VOLUNTEER POSITIONS - GET INVOLVED!

Interested in volunteering on the CASV Board? 

Currently, we are looking for CASV members to join the working Board to help out in the following positions:

- Secretary:  The Secretary is an officer of the Board.  The role of the Secretary is to ensure notification of Board meetings, and that minutes of Board meetings are taken.  The role of Secretary may be combined with other roles.

- CASV Emerging Artist’s Prize Chair - duties will include working with CASV Administrative Assistant to oversee the administration of the Artist's Prize, including leading the call for submissions, enlisting a jury of art professionals, writing press releases, coordinating the exhibition of finalists' artwork, and organizing the Prize launch at the opening reception.

- Hospitality

- International art trip planning

- CASV archiving
Please contact us for more information on how you can help.

www.casv.ca
info@casv.ca

The Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver is a registered not-for-profit organization entirely reliant on member support.  Thank you for yours!  Please visit the CASV website for event listings and membership information.

Founded in 1977, the CASV creates opportunities for exploring, appreciating and understanding contemporary art.

CASV EVENTS COMING UP IN MAY

May is an incredibly busy month this year for the CASV, with four events happening. The first one is an event in which the CASV and the Richmond Art Gallery has partnered together. 

A Conversation About Collecting Contemporary Art

Saturday, May 3, 2:00 – 3:30pm - Richmond Art Gallery

Hear different perspectives on collecting contemporary art from Wil Aballe, Dealer and Owner of Wil Aballe Art Projects, Kate Bellringer, Director of Contemporary & Canadian Art Auctions at Maynards Fine Art & Antiques, and Donna Partridge, private collector and Manager of Art Rental & Sales at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Moderated by Gallery Director Rachel Rosenfield Lafo.

See the exhibition, Evan Lee: Elders and Roots, guest curated by Bill Jeffries. Take advantage of a special opportunity to build your art collection by purchasing a new limited edition print by Vancouver artist Evan Lee from his ginseng series, created as a fundraiser for the Richmond Art Gallery.

Co-sponsored by the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver

Directions to the Richmond Art Gallery, easily accessible on the Canada Line, can be found here: http://richmondartgallery.org/.

Evan Lee, Ginseng Root Study, 2004/2014 , 7.75 x 6 in., archival pigment print

The Second event is a members only studio visit with Dyan Achjadi. This event has limited numbers as Dyan's studio is a smaller space, so be sure to RSVP as soon as the invitation comes out. For those of you who cannot join us as it is on Mothers Day, we wish you a beautiful Mothers Day.

Dyan Achjadi, Mine, 2008

Event number three in May, a private collection tour visit. The details for this event will be emailed to members a week or so prior. Be sure to sign up for the collection visit, and be prepared for inspiring conversations on collecting.

Event number four in May, the CASV is pleased to present to you the Second Iteration of the Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver's Emerging Artist's Prize. By early May a jury will have meticulously reviewed over 120 submissions of work and selected a group of finalists for the exhibition and prize. The exhibition of the artwork will be held at Access Gallery in Vancouver, and will run from May 17 - 31. We would like to invite all of our members to the May 22 Opening reception for the exhibition. Come out and support emerging Vancouver contemporary art, and meet the shortlisted artists. 

The winner of the prize is also announced on the 22nd.

HOPPING INTO APRIL!

We have two events scheduled this April, we hope you will join us for both!

We've partnered once again with Canadian Art on the Vancouver Art Hop. The hop is taking place this year on the 12th of April. It is a full day of free art talks, tours and a Magazine issue launch. This event is open to the membership and the general public. For more information on the talks and tours coming up on the 12th, visit the Van Hop Microsite: http://www.canadianart.ca/microsites/vancouverhop/ 
See you at the hop!

Following the hop, we also have planned an artist studio visit with Vancouver based artist Dan Starling. Dates and more information on Starling will follow in the next couple of weeks. His visit will occur later on in the month. Hope to see you there!

Dan Starling is an interdisciplinary artist from Vancouver whose work has been exhibited internationally. He has attended Emily Carr University (BFA 2005) and Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main (Meisterschuler 2011).  www.danstarling.com

HOPPING OUT OF MARCH...

With the winter months now behind us we are looking forward to hopping into spring with some fantastic events in April and May. More on these soon, but first a quick thank you to the folks who made our two events in March a great success.

Thanks to the Rosewood Hotel Georgia and Todd Towers from Farmboy Fine Arts for the tour of the Hotel Georgia's Art Collection.

Hotel Georgia Development Limited worked with Farmboy Fine Arts to create a modern art collection as a way to reassert the hotel’s present-day splendor in the context of the reverence for the hotel’s iconic past. Farmboy Fine Art’s president Todd Towers stayed true to the Rosewood Hotel Georgia’s mantra to create “A sense of place.” In order to do that, Towers selected and commissioned works by modern Canadian artists, focusing on West Coast artists in particular. Because the building interior is sombre in its sophistication, Towers chose pieces that would boldly stand out, placing pieces of art throughout the hotel from lobby, to spa, and  upper levels. (http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2011/10/06/rosewood-hotel-georgia-debuts-collection-of-modern-canadian-art/)

CASV Members got an insider perspective on how the collection was selected and created. The Rosewood Hotel Georgia is one of a small selection of hotels that have a unique contemporary Canadian art collection. The other hotel that springs to mind instantly would be the Gladstone in Toronto, they have 37 hotel rooms designed by different Canadian artists. Next time you are in Toronto, you should check it out.

The Gladstone Hotel is not only the oldest continuously operating hotel in Toronto, it's also one of Canada’s favourite Boutique Art Hotels. Blending historical Victorian architecture with contemporary luxury, downtown culture and whole lot of art, the Gladstone Hotel is a hub for locals and international travellers alike. 37 hotel rooms each designed by different Canadian artists, 2 restaurants, 4 event venue spaces and 3 art exhibition spaces. 

We also would like to thanks Emily Carr University of Art + Design and Kim Dorland for helping us to host a fascinating artist talk. The talk was open to the public as well as the membership and it was incredibly well attended. It was hosted on campus at Emily Carr.  Kim Dorland gave an extensive and insightful talk on the history and evolution of his artistic practice. Thanks Kim!

For More info on Kim Visit Here: http://www.canadianart.ca/features/2013/05/10/kim-dorland-beautiful-stuff/