Vivarium Gallery

2020-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

The Vivarium Gallery is proud to have presented works by Vancouver artists from 2008-2011.
jamie, christopher and emilio wish to thank everyone that came and enjoyed the exhibitions, the discussions & the workshops.

We can be contacted via our personal websites
www.jamiegriffiths.com
www.christopherrodrigues.com
www.performancero.com (emilio)

2011-05-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

Christopher Rodrigues
Sea Creatures

April 30th - May 29th 2011

On the warm summer evening of Friday, August 1st 2008, a small group gathered outside a newly founded window front gallery on Yew Street and gazed inside. Filling the space were two enormous paintings of imagined sea creatures, the first and second panels from Christopher's ongoing sea creature series. Almost three years later, the Vivarium Gallery presents the next two 80" X 96" panels, on display April 30th through May 29th 2011.

The third and fourth panels began as a ballpoint pen sketch, produced during the summer of 2008 & 2009 on Wreck Beach. The beauty of this west coast seascape, the meditative sound of the rolling waves, the salty smell and taste of the ocean, the deceptively tropical July & August and the unique culture that inhabits this beach, provides a wealth of inspiration. Over the cooler, rainy months these drawings are scanned into the computer, composed within Photoshop, translated onto canvas using pencil, then converted into colour with acrylic paint.

A public reception will be held at the Vivarium Gallery on Saturday, May 14th, with the artist in attendance. This summer Christopher has his first solo exhibition at RARE Gallery, in New York.

2011-03-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

Keith Doyle's newest multi-media project, Stillfilms: the tale of two bad mice, began as intricate sculptures that collide in a momentary performance. He skillfully preserves this moment through video, photography and a site-specific installation, allowing the viewer a space to ponder the relationship between sentiment, memory & experience. Please join us on Saturday, February 12th to the opening reception. If you can't make the reception, please wander by the Vivarium Gallery window to view the installation.

2011-03-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

ARTIST STATEMENT

The work I am presenting to the Vivarium Gallery is one panel from a series of six (The Mahler Project) that has been inspired by the composer Gustav Mahler's third symphony written between 1893 and 1896. the 3rd symphony is unique in that it contains six movements as opposed to the typical four found in most other symphonic works. Each panel in this
series of paintings represents a specific movement in the symphony and the one being presented here was inspired by the 6th or last movement. Mahler titled each movement allowing a kind of window into the creative motif of the symphony. The final movement was titled "what love tells me" bringing to light Mahler's quest to elevate music to the realm of desire and beyond
the systematic structure of notation.

I assumed Mahler's noble quest in my series of paintings wanting the images to transcend their physicality and venture into the realm of experience. The possibility of this assumed quest is always in question and it is the questioning of this notion that gives this work its strength: how much of what we see is determined by how we see it? My position is that our experience of an art form (what we are looking at) is determined, for the most part, by how we are looking at it. In other words, how we perceive an image is socially conditioned through a series of events (historical and current)that come to bear on what is presented. Aspects of the subject of a painting carry social codes that influence our experience of it that, in turn, raise concerns as to how an image will be interpreted. The Mahler project strives to maintain this dialog at a forefront in order to persuade the viewer to accept its limitations and possibly move from them towards the realm of desire.

BIO

Bruce Pashak is a Canadian artist living and working in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. He has shown extensively in over 30 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows through out Canada , parts of the USA and Europe (London and Paris). Pashak's works are held in many public and private collections, art institutions and museums. Pashak is represented by the Eliot Louis Gallery in Vancouver, the Paul Kuhn Gallery in Calgary and the Peter Buckland Gallery in St. John

2011-02-08T15:17:00.001-08:00

KEITH DOYLE
Stillfilms: the tale of two bad mice

artist statement

I choose images and design objects with the interest of capitalizing on associative or extrinsic meaning. Meaning and significance, as a generated value, is what I feel makes a novel gesture, a shared commodity, a qualitative and numeric event that may be provoked through open dialog and sincerity. A contemporary modern minimal aesthetic, when applied to a gesture of sincerity or sentimentality can create an object of discrete function with a broader extrinsic value. A discrete object is that which is unto itself, pattern, color, scale and form, this can benefit a narrative subject insofar as creating novelty of experience.

Of late, I have shifted from a rather didactic approach. I once saw the direction of my work as an applied meaning through the literal; the Museum didactic or descriptor did all of the work when placed next to an abstract. What I was left with was a group of objects that needed a written or verbal punch line. I would prefer a so-called discrete-informed experience.

Sentimentality is one aspect of a meaningful experience that I have looked for of late. Each recent piece has started with a clear attraction to fostering sentiment. Decals, color, pattern and scale, lean towards my universal politics, and the belief in the making a discrete-informed experience. Still, one must embrace the peculiarity of autobiographical notation, especially in a digital savvy society, so, where is the analog? Corollary though, meaning and value are assignations applied to the surface, the extrinsic commodity. I seek to stimulate memory and pursue that which is meaningful in my work, this mash of middlin’ scale, and extrinsic significance. It is here the clash of category works, to benefit the object, the video-play, and the sculptural experience.

2010-12-15T17:42:00.001-08:00

jamie griffiths
'Scattered Atoms'
New Media & Photographic Installation
Single Channel Interactive Video & Photograph
in collaboration with Rob Scharein (quantum mathematics)
& Germana Mota (Pinhole photography)

A pinhole camera portrait of the artist is hung with a video projection that uses quantum* mathematical concepts & equations to scatter the image into the imagined state beyond death, where all thought & intention still exist as "scattered atoms*". Based on the artists’ exploration of philosophies and theologies of eschatology, or the study of life beyond death, Scattered Atoms embraces the scientific theory that the animate energy of the human soul/spirit may utilize the phenomenon of Quantum Tunneling to escape the confines of the physical body upon death. Once freed from the body the person’s spirit lives on in the Quantum Field, as ‘scattered atoms’, as eternal life.

Pinhole portrait before the quantum scattering into 'atoms'

Time Independent Schrödinger Equation (TISE)
The equation for a one dimensional quantum mechanical system. This is something like Newton's F=ma (Force equals mass times acceleration) except for a quantum mechanical system. It is time independent because it can be used to study systems whose quantum state doesn't change. Many real world quantum systems are adequately described by this equation and even at this stage, the equation can be solved in systems that reveal the phenomenon of quantum tunneling.

2010-12-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

WALLS

Three new paintings
by Christopher Rodrigues

2010-11-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

artist website: www.joeaverageart.com

joe average & jamie griffiths

'Skullface'

Film screening & Limited Edition Print release

44"x36" photo-giclee edition of 27

December 11th 2010 2130 Yew St, Vanc

7.00pm Film Screening

'I See The Fear'

a film by joe average & jamie griffiths

Canada, 2010. 8 min English

Directed & produced by jamie griffiths & joe average

Photography : jamie griffiths & joe average

Editor: jamie griffiths & joe average

Music: Stefan Smulovitz & Viviane Houle

A commission of the Out on Screen Queer History Project

In 2004, visual artists joe average & jamie griffiths entered into a creative therapeutic photography process, to allow joe to explore his experience of living and coping with Lipoatrophy caused by antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS. In joe's 27th year living with HIV/AIDS, this short film, 'I See The Fear' walks the audience into his creative process with friend and photo-collaborator, jamie griffiths. Joe's inner state of mind (poems and diary entries) fuse with digital-photo manipulations to bring home the message that society needs to address the fear & stigmatization at the root of the isolation experienced by the side effects of AIDS medications.

2010-11-03T11:56:00.006-07:00

EVANN SIEBENS
'Chromatic Revelry'
November 6 - 28

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 6, 5-8pm
Screening at 6.30pm & Artist Talk at 7pm

A series of 10 short films, ‘Chromatic Revelry’ connects the ordered harmonic scale of J.S. Bach’s ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ with the chaos of rave culture. Shot on Super 8 film in clubs and at raves from 1998-2000, including the desert revel ‘Burning Man’ in Nevada, the piece suggests a timelessness to raves, celebration and dance. A synthesis of the artist’s experimental dancefilm work with more traditional documentary films, it also brings a personal sensibility, reflecting her own fascination with rave and club dancing (and featuring some of her own dancing). Yet by choosing to edit the documentary footage to the preludes and fugues of J.S. Bach’s ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ the piece transcends regular 90’s rave culture. With its archival Super 8 footage and chromatic, orderly music, the film becomes trans-historical, lost in time, and commenting on the nature of revelry and celebration rather than a particular moment in history.

Evann Siebens specializes in making media about movement. Her short films, documentaries and media installations have been shown on PBS, NPS and at venues such as Eyebeam, The Georges Pompidou Centre, MOMA, The Hammer Museum and Lincoln Centre. A former dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and the Bonn Ballet in Germany, Evann graduated from New York University’s film school. She has created media with the former Frankfurt Ballett in Germany and attended residences at the Banff Centre for the Arts, at UCLA and at Dance Theater Workshop in New York. Based in Vancouver, Evann recently co-curated and shared artistic direction for containR – a mobile film festival in stacked, reconditioned shipping containers that was featured during the 2010 Olympic Games and 2009 Cultural Olympiad.

2010-11-03T11:56:00.005-07:00

CHROMATIC REVELRY

Evann E. Siebens

November 6 - 28 2010

ICARUS CAR

Keith H. Doyle & Evann E. Siebens
April 11- May 8, 2009

STILLFILMS: THE TALE OF TWO BAD MICE
Keith H. Doyle
February 12th - March 12th 2011

2010-11-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

LINKS

GALLERIES CONNECTED TO VIVARIUM ARTISTS
NB. Vivarium artists personal websites are via the 'ARTISTS' side bar button.

Winsor Gallery Vanc

Buschlen Mowatt Vanc
RARE Gallery New York
Jacana Gallery Vanc
Gallery Atsui Vanc
VIVO Media Arts Vanc
Gallery Jones Vanc

ARTIST SUPPORT & RESIDENCIES

Alliance For the Arts Calls for Artists, Advocacy, Resources
STEIM Centre for the Arts Artist residencies, Amsterdam
Banff Centre Artist residencies, Alberta
Preview Magazine Arts Opportunities

ARTISTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE & ART ACTIVISM
Art-Threat Media outlet devoted solely to political art and cultural policy.
Voinya Russian art activists protesting corruption. Currently under arrest.

Rebecca Belmore Sued by gallery for loss of "future sales". Legal Defense fund.
The Cheaper Show Annual Exhibition of works less than $200 June 25th 2011
Creative Time NY Art that challenges the status quo

2010-10-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

EVANN SIEBENS
'Chromatic Revelry'
November 6 - 28
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 6, 5-8pm
Screening at 6.30pm & Artist Talk at 7pm

A series of 10 short films, ‘Chromatic Revelry’ connects the ordered harmonic scale of J.S. Bach’s ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ with the chaos of rave culture. Shot on Super 8 film in clubs and at raves from 1998-2000, including the desert revel ‘Burning Man’ in Nevada, the piece suggests a timelessness to raves, celebration and dance. A synthesis of the artist’s experimental dancefilm work with more traditional documentary films, it also brings a personal sensibility, reflecting her own fascination with rave and club dancing (and featuring some of her own dancing). Yet by choosing to edit the documentary footage to the preludes and fugues of J.S. Bach’s ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’ the piece transcends regular 90’s rave culture. With its archival Super 8 footage and chromatic, orderly music, the film becomes trans-historical, lost in time, and commenting on the nature of revelry and celebration rather than a particular moment in history.

Evann Siebens specializes in making media about movement. Her short films, documentaries and media installations have been shown on PBS, NPS and at venues such as Eyebeam, The Georges Pompidou Centre, MOMA, The Hammer Museum and Lincoln Centre. A former dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and the Bonn Ballet in Germany, Evann graduated from New York University’s film school. She has created media with the former Frankfurt Ballett in Germany and attended residences at the Banff Centre for the Arts, at UCLA and at Dance Theater Workshop in New York. Based in Vancouver, Evann recently co-curated and shared artistic direction for containR – a mobile film festival in stacked, reconditioned shipping containers that was featured during the 2010 Olympic Games and 2009 Cultural Olympiad.

2010-10-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

Christopher Rodrigues : Paths of the Sea

2010-10-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

Christopher Rodrigues: Planet 11

May 9, 2009- June 5, 2009

40" X 50" digital cibachrome

This planet is the most recent image from his exploration of contemporary landscape and was exhibited for the first time this March at SCOPE Art Fair in New York, represented by RARE Gallery.

Christopher uses the computer and Photoshop as his artistic mediums in three ongoing series of works -- Planets, Islands, Still Lifes -- that examine the relationship between Nature and Technology as well as photography and painting. Employing techniques that resemble collage and painting, he absents the camera from the process of creating his photographs. The results, printed as Cibachromes backed with aluminum and faced with plexi, are both hyper-real and fantastical, connecting to traditional notions of the still life and landscape while looking forward to a digitally enhanced universe. Each of the three series is produced in a limited edition of seven.

www.christopherrodrigues.com

2010-10-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Christopher Rodrigues:Still Life

October 10th, 2009- November 9th, 2009

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 10th, 6-9

The digital Cibachrome prints, sourcing still life flower paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, were first publicly exhibited in March 2009 at the SCOPE Art Fair in New York.

Christopher's Personal Altar aims to gain a deeper understanding of the old tradition of Still Life in Contemporary Art, through the practice of altar making. Altar making is a common tradition that bridges all religions. Beyond organized religion, personal Altars can be found in many house-holds around the world. This summer the Vancouver audience was given the opportunity to learn about and examine the Dutch Golden Age of painting, in a beautiful curated exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This exhibition extended many peoples understanding of the visual language of Still Life, a language that is necessary to interpret Christopher's work.

"Christopher uses the computer & Photoshop as his artistic mediums in three ongoing series of works -- Planets, Islands, Still Lifes -- that examine the relationship between Nature & Technology as well as photography & painting. Employing techniques that resemble collage & painting, he absents the camera from the process of creating his photographs. The results, printed as Cibachromes & face-mounted to Plexiglas, are both hyper-real and fantastical, connecting to traditional notions of the still life and landscape while looking forward to a digitally enhanced universe." - RARE Gallery, 2009, New York

http://www.christopherrodrigues.com

2010-10-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

Christopher Rodrigues:Still Life 07

April 24 & 25, 2010.

Still Life 07, 8/21

Digital cibachrome print
14" x 11", 2008-10
$500.00

Still Life 07 is a digital interpretation of the 1716 Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop, by Dutch Master Rachel Ruysch. I had the opportunity to view her oil painting, halfway through my interpretation, during the summer 2009, Dutch Masters exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The 'silvers' of this cibachrome print echo the, 'golds' of the original oil painting.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The computer and Photoshop are my sole mediums to create images that are the basis for three ongoing series of works -- Planets, Islands, and Still Lifes. Employing techniques that resemble collage and painting by "borrowing" pixels of color from images found on the Internet using search engines, I entirely absent my use of the camera from the artistic process. My photographs honor Nature while celebrating Technology, an important concern for me in an age when humans are struggling to find a balance with the planet that sustains them. Through my art, I have found a way to showcase Nature's all-encompassing beauty while at the same time expressing my genuine concern for its preservation and safety.

2010-10-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

artists website: www.christopherrodrigues.com

Sea Creatures
April 30 - May 29, 2011

Planet 04

Immigration & Alienation

May 5 - May 30, 2010

Still Life 07
April 24 & 25, 2010

Still Life
Oct 10 - Nov 9, 2009

Planet 11

May 9 - June 5, 2009

Paths of the Sea
Aug 1 - Sept 12, 2008

2010-10-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

Christopher Rodrigues:Immigration & Alienation:
May 5 - May 30, 2010

Man in Suit, 2003 Wolf, 2004 Grandmother, 2004 32“X 23” 34“X 23” 34“X 22”

Acrylic on Canvas in Window Frame, $3000 each

These three paintings are part of an autobiographical series of work, exploring the affects of immigration laws on identity and the resulting social consequences. At the end of my studies in the University of Toronto, Visual Department in May 2001 and holding a British and Canadian duel citizenship, I moved to New York to live with my partner and pursue a career in the Arts. To enter and remain in America, I was asked to forfeit many privileges that I previously assumed were rights in a democratic society.

As an ‘illegal alien’ in New York I was forbidden by law to work or search for work. Since I was required to start making student loan payments, cover living expenses and had no health insurance, I accepted under-the-table art-related work. These politically and socially restraints challenged my efforts to integrate into a new city and culture.

I began to develop a series of paintings, drawings and digital images examining alienation, often resulting as fractured cubist portraits. The most influential movement on my style and technique during this time was Analytical Cubism. By accepting a two-year internship position at the Guggenheim Museum I was allowed to conduct firsthand studies of Picasso & Braque's paintings and drawings. When the Guggenheim was closed to the public, I was allowed to sit in front of the paintings, sketching each line and edge, alone in the Museum. The feeling of these fragmented Cubists works seemed compassionate to my isolated situation.
Each time I left the country I feared customs would not allow me to return home to New York. My final ‘illegal alien’ crossing was to England for my Grandmothers funeral in 2002. My 2003 marriage advanced my immigration status to 'legal alien'. This allowed me to legally work, yet forbid me to leave the United States until I received my Greencard . It took two and a half years to obtain my Greencard and for the first time in my life my freedom to travel was restricted.
My experience pales in comparison to what undocumented workers in America face today with bill SB1070[i] & ICE[ii]. This series uses my experience to gain insight into the social impact of immigration laws in both America & Canada.

[i] The new Arizona Law bill SB1070, permits police to stop residents merely on the "reasonable suspicion” that they are unlawfully in the country.

[ii] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative agency in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Formed in 2003 as part of the federal government's response to the 9/11 attacks, ICE's mission is to protect the security of the American people and homeland by vigilantly enforcing the nation's immigration and customs laws. Motivated by a great fear, ICE uses innovative investigative techniques, new technological resources, racial profiling & racism to strip suspects of their rights, freedom and dignity, in the name of national security.

2010-10-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

SCATTERED ATOMS
with Rob Scharein, Germana Mota
Dec 11 2010 - Jan 11 2011

SKULLFACE
with joe average
Dec 11 2010 - Jan 11 2011

SEED
Nov 14 - Dec 9 2009

kNoTLOGO
with Rob Scharein

7 -13 Feb 2010

MystiQ
with Rob Scharein

July 11 - Aug 7 2009

artists website: www.jamiegriffiths.com

2010-10-25T16:47:00.001-07:00

jamie griffiths: SEED

November 14th to Dec 9th 2009

'Bill's Seed' 22"x30" giclee

'Mustard Seed' 22"x30" giclee

'Mustard Seed' addresses success and failure, of striving to grow, of new life and of death. It references christian parables on the nature of spilling forth. It speaks to the Quantum realm of existence & addresses my fascination with the power of intention, and how our thoughts become manifest in the world... Every action carries a consequence. Every moment seeds the next moment. The arm appears lifeless. Who lifts the arm?"

'Bill's Seed' is inspired by the Bill Reid carving in the Rotunda at the Museum of Anthropology, which tells part of the Haida peoples human creation myth. If you look carefully you can see the form of First Man emerging upside down from a shell, and his hand reaching up to steady himself as her pulls himself out. Disintegration and struggle have already set in, even from this moment of the 'birth' of a species. Tree seeds cut through the body of this first human and of the shell, as the cycle of human life, death and rebirth begins."

VIDEO - Single Channel

The seeds of a large old Pine tree fall eternally onto concrete at the University of British Columbia. Unable to germinate, they return to the sky, floating back upwards, returning to their source.

jamie griffiths is a Photographer, Experimental Film-maker & Interactive Visual Music artist. Her photographic work has been exhibited & published internationally since 1992.

Lifelong explorations of visual creativity mesh with a love of technology, combining projected media with performance commissions for orchestra, new music, opera, dance and theatre projects. She creates her new media performance works under the name Primal Divine, collaborating internationally with composers, choreographers and computer visualization artists.

more details about the SEED series

2010-10-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Rob Scharein & jamie griffiths:
kNoTLOGO

July 11th to August 7th 2009

The projection, "kNotLOGO", is an interactive randomized mathematical algorithm by local artist Jammie Griffiths and mathematician Ph.D Rob Scharein. Never the same twice therefore not a `Logo', this collaboration represents without words, the ideals of unity through creativity, freedom of expression and non-competitive sharing. It was first conceived as a response to restrictive corporate logos and branding during the Olympics.

Created mathematically by KnotPlot software, to place in your window without going to jail for ripping off a corporate sporting event logo. Lets the world know how you feel.. without having to use words.

(Free downloadable (k)Not-LOGO software is available by visiting www.knotlogo.com) Please distribute freely.

2010-10-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

kNoTLOGO

Sunday 7th Feb - Sat 13th Feb

MystiQ

July 11th to August 7th 2009

artists website:
www.hypnagogic.net
www.knotplot.com

2010-10-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

Rob Scharein & jamie griffiths: MystiQ

July 11th to August 7th 2009

Opening reception Sat July 11th 2009 8-12pm

3D Video Installation

MystiQ is a 3D video installation with Custom software & 3D graphics by Rob Scharein,that utilizes 800 year old texts and additional visual imagery & photographs by jamie griffiths.

We live in 3 dimensional bodies and yet operate in a world of thoughts, dreams and multi-dimensional realities. Conscious acts of engagement in the world effect the Quantum ‘Field’ that we inhabit. As bodies, minds and spirits we are only aware of the tiniest relevances of our lives to the grand picture. The ripples, waves and thought patterns extrapolate outwards and inwards as part of the never-ending, never-beginning matrix of life and energy. Some may call this Quantum Field “God”.

In ‘MystiQ’, the Quantum Field is visually referenced by mathematical collisions of 3D strings and nodes, forming a continuous matrix of 3D ‘life’ inside the Vivarium Gallery window... attaching & releasing... dragging and being pulled around in the matrix. From a chaotic beginning, order emerges as symmetries hidden in the connections between players in the chaos game are revealed. As they collide they grab visual objects such as photographs and 800 year old texts, which are disassembled in the matrix and become 3 dimensional slow moving objects for the passer-by to read and decipher. The words of mystics are presented but the reader must reassemble them into their original meanings, as an enforced journey of seeking. The implication here is that the words exist, whether we see them or not, and the wisdom and meanings within the words existed even before they were written.

This forced theme of seeking meaning in the words, is connected to other words hidden in the video installation, on themes of Love, Art and Work; three mainstays of an artists life.

The video installation for the Vivarium grew progressively as Rob & jamie added words, images and graphics throughout the exhibition. Mathematical algorithms will ensured that the order that images and matrices appear was never seen the same way twice.

The viewing participant is pulled... down the rabbit hole and into the (Quantum) looking glass...

With a background as a physicist & astronomer, Rob Scharein swims daily in the magic of 3D worlds as a Research Fellow in the Department of Mathematics at San Francisco State University. His websites are found at knotplot.com & hypnagogic.net

jamie griffiths is a visual artist and filmmaker. She has been seeking in the Quantum Field since 2001, on a quest to find ‘G-dde’ in her everyday life and art and uses interactive technology in live performance films and installations. She is also currently a researcher in Digital Video Illumination at the Univ.of BC.

2010-10-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

Jay Senetchko: The Burial of Saint Lucy

Oct 2 - 24 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 2, 6-9pm

The Burial of Saint Lucy, 2008
Oil on Canvas ,89 3/4" x 64 1/2"
$9000

While referencing history in a contemporary work of art risks alienating viewers, Senetchko's intention and hope is that his paintings will provoke an inquisitive response.

The Burial of St. Lucy is one painting in Senetchko's Apologia series. Apologia uses elements of iconic visual and literary works of art to invoke a contemplative ‘old-world’ look and feel, from the classical tradition of painting. Referencing elements from various art historical moments, periods, individual painters, specific paintings and literary works, along with philosophies of art, and combining to express a mood, an attitude, an idea, or thought about the past. The series represents a sort of visual “defense” of the tradition that has inspired, saddened, outraged, bemused and otherwise nurtured him.

To learn more of Jay's work please visit his website and contact the Jacana Gallery for details about his upcoming Still Life exhibition in 2011.

http://www.senetchko.ca

http://jacanagallery.com

2010-10-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

Rita Leroux: Walls

June 5 - July 4, 2010

The Wailing Wall 2008 Berlin Wall 2008
Oil on Canvas 60cm x 60 cm Oil on Canvas 60cm x 60 cm

Rita Leroux's artworks are inspired by her personal encounters with people and cultures during her extensive world travels. Her paintings are often characterized by a vivid use of colour and bold style. Thirty years ago Rita visited Berlin. As a tourist she held the privilege to freely pass through the wall to move from West to East. The memory of seeing Berliners stuck on both sides, forbidden to cross, inspired her painting 'Berlin Wall'.

Rita’s painting, 'The Wailing Wall', depicts the “Wailing Wall” (also: Western Wall) located in Jerusalem, which is a holy site for the Jewish people, in the disputed city of Jerusalem. A city holly to the three main Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and remains one of the core issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Rita’s 'Walls' series trespasses beyond the mere functional value of walls to consider their social, political and religious implication, and the roll they play in human interactions.

Rita has been a student of painting at the Taller Rufino Tamayo, in Oaxaca Mexico and Emily Carr College of Art and Design, in Vancouver, BC. A recent painting was chosen by jury to be part of a collective show of Oaxacan artists, that was exhibited in Museo Del Palacio in Oaxaca Mexico. The published exhibit catalogue Nueva Vision provides a showcase of the works of 60 emerging Oaxacan artists.

www.ritaleroux.net

2010-10-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

TONI LATOUR: More or Less

August 8th, 2009- September 30th, 200

Opening reception Saturday, August 8th, 6-9

August 8th, 2009- September 30th, 200

Opening reception Saturday, August 8th, 6-9

'More or Less' is comprised of two pieces, Red Dot and Top 20. Red Dot is made up of hundreds of red dots, commonly used in commercial galleries to denote the sale of an artwork. This piece examines the economy of exchange that can sometimes dominate the art world, creating markets that are used to determine levels of "success".

In an attempt to expose and disrupt patriarchy in the local art world, Top 20 lists some of the most prominent artists in Vancouver, all of whom are male. Together, these pieces examine the contemporary Canadian art landscape, and consequently, Latour's place in it.

Working in a variety of disciplines, the content of Toni Latour's practice focuses on her identification as an artist and her relationship to various communities. Several projects have incorporated factions of Vancouver's queer community, of which she is a part, in an effort to increase visibility. Other projects have been born from her participation in Canadian art communities, making reference to other artists and her position within the contemporary art landscape.

Using humour as a strategy, much of Toni's work deals with the drives, desires and anxieties bound up in her own art production. Often depicting the carnivalesque quality of the artist/performer, her work seeks to be both deprecatingly funny and poignantly honest. It describes the self and social scrutiny that go hand in hand with keeping up in the fast paced worlds of art. It also depicts many of the coping mechanisms that accompany such scrutiny. Subjects include staying motivated, maintaining appearances and honing survival skills. From pep talks to public posturing, her practice encompasses both the excitement and apprehension that surround contemporary art making today.

Gabryel Harrison: From Utter Darkness, Light Always Comes

2010-10-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

ARTIST STATEMENT

All new life begins in darkness. The seed of human potential, an embryonic idea, winged energy cocooned and waiting for flight, light itself.

This piece began its life as raw canvas submerged in the North Arm of the Fraser River for the duration of seven cycles of the tides. Ritual purification. Within this time, on August 28-2007, the world experienced a total lunar eclipse, visible to all on the Pacific coast.

It was my intention with this piece to experiment with the sedimentary deposits left from its exposure to silt and salt, ocean water and fresh. To work with the stains and traces of aquatic life from this tidal estuary, as well as the more ephemeral elements of sunlight and dusk, early morning mist, midnight rain and starlight, swallows flight, coyote’s howl as they came at twilight to drink. It was the last piece of canvas on a roll that once held hundreds of feet; many paintings, years of my life. I wanted this last fragment to be the creation of something new, something unborn in me. It was a summer of emergence from a place of cocoon into the blinding light of love.

And so love reigned and the canvas languished. Some months later I returned to the project and worked its surface from the trusted darkness of my intuition, painting from a new perspective. We are all heavenly bodies influencing one another. In this way, the full moon rose from its beginnings in the dark waters of the river to swim into sight from the equally dark waters of my unconscious.

It went out into the world. Found a home. Came back. In its new incarnation, the piece once known as Acheron Moon has been reborn. I have reworked the painting, adding layers both painterly and metaphorically, to speak to my evolving relationship with the painting. It carries the pentimento of my life and explorations within the reflective surface of its moon, symbolic of the reflections of darkness co-existing with light in today’s physical world and in the minds and hearts of each one of us. I am thinking in particular of the Gulf oil spill crisis, and of the catastrophe closer to home unfolding in the Athabasca tar sands. I am complicit. My studio practice, my life is interwoven with oil and the reaches of darkness.

This is not a fable. A long time ago in a far away land, I was with friends stuck in a jeep in the shifting sands of a desert. We were four without water, miles from nowhere. After our eventual recovery, still miles from nowhere, we lounged on carpets in the sand under a canopy of stars. Intoxicated with life regained. In a surreal moment, a nomad wizened by sun and age, appeared from behind a dune just as the full moon came into view. He was carrying a shiny bicycle wheel. He spoke to our Berber companions in Arabic. This is what he said.

“The Light Always Comes”.

Above us, the moon cycling through its phases, reflecting light on all the violent beauty below.

In this new turning of the wheel, I am choosing to include my contemplative practice of sitting meditation in a formal seven day ritual of being present with the painting in the time of transition as the earth surrenders its darkness to the ageless awakening of light. My life practice is the work of inner transformation from the darkness of ignorance to the light of awakened awareness. In sitting, I am a process of embodiment, physically actualizing the transformation implicit in the painting and projected text. I am opening myself to the possibility of being transformed, emptied, as I commit myself to face all that arises, on the cushion and in life. I am the canvas surrendered to the tide of the mind’s movement, witness to its dark elements, the stains of attachment, as well as the letting go, the release into all that is impermanent. Even the light sinks again into the sea before its return.

So really, in this painting is everything; the desert, the space, endless sky, the waters of river and sea, the heat, the thirst, motion and stasis, experience and the mind and everything in it, the darkness and the light, the total eclipse of the mind, only dependent co-arising existence. I am part of the suffering of the world. My painting is part of the suffering and the love co-arising in this world. My practice is to be equanimous in the face of the world’s difficult teachings. Violence to the planet or to the people of the planet at the deepest level of existence teaches forgiveness, compassion and wisdom if we deepen our understanding to realize non-attachment. The practice of meditation teaches me the emptiness of all things, beneath which lies the ground of unconditioned love. In giving myself to the practice of sitting, I am giving myself to life itself, in the service of love and non-aggression.

To be in the suffering of the world without attachment is to be in the deepest wisdom and compassion. It is my intention to be in this sustained practice as a gesture of commitment to awakening wisdom and compassion within the darkness of my own being, therefore becoming part of the consciousness that brings light into a world of suffering.

Gabryel Harrison June 2010

2010-10-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

Gabryel Harrison:

From Utter Darkness, Light Always Comes

July 10th - August 1st 2010

oil painting, with video projection

64" x 56"

Artist is present for 7 days (in meditation)
5.00 - 5.40am July 11-18th

On exhibit at the Vivarium Gallery from July 10 to August 1, is a work titled 'From Utter Darkness, Light Always Comes', by Gabryel Harrison. This interdisciplinary installation consists of three components that support a rich conceptual practice: an oil painting, with merged video projection, and the artist present in meditation each dawn in the window as the light arrives.

The 64" x 56" oil painting on display is painted on raw canvas that was ritualistically submerged in the Fraser River for 7 days during a lunar eclipse. The words 'From Utter Darkness, Light Always Comes' are projected onto the face of the painting, becoming increasingly visible at dusk, remaining through the night, and disappearing again gradually at dawn. Gabryel completes the installation with a 7 day performance each morning in the window, a sunrise meditation as an illustration of how the practice of meditation transforms the dark. In this way the work itself cycles throughout each 24 hour period through different states.

Gabryel Harrison was born in New Zealand, and now lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She completed a Fine Arts Degree at the University of Ottawa in 1980, later fulfilling post- graduate requirements to become an art therapist in 1992. Working as an art therapist until 1996, and thereafter in the creative arts field, Harrison has devoted herself to paint full-time since 1999.

To learn and view more about Gabryel's work please visit her website and the Vivarium Gallery website, you can also attend her exhibition this November at the Winsor Gallery in Vancouver.

Artist Statement

2010-10-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Keith H. Doyle & Evann E. Siebens: IcarusCar

April 11- May 8, 2009

Opening reception April 11, 6- 9pm

IcarusCar is a screen-based sculptural installation involving the myth of a flying car. Inspired by the real history of Molt Taylor’s 1949 Aerocar One and the folly of Icarus, an abstract narrative is created with multiple channels of video and sculptural artifacts from the film. Using a full-sized 1969 MGB GT and a scale model of the same, the media is set in the rural southern Alberta winter landscape, where an old crumbling barn and long desolate roads provide the place for subject and setting. Nostalgia for another time in history, the relationship between the automobile, the Canadian prairie landscape, and the inventor or artist are all part of the dream to push beyond gravity and use human ingenuity to create something new, to fly…

IcarusCar was created during a 2007 residency at the Banff New Media Institute at the Banff Centre

2010-10-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Adelle Bernadette: Elephants

September , 2008.

Precious Offering, Lekshmi and Sivan Gentle Soul

40 by 30 in. 40 by 30 in

Artist Statement

"My inspiration comes from connecting to the natural beauty and divine presence in all things....it is this that I deeply cherish and honour. When we deepen our relationship to the ever-present life energy and spiritual source on this planet, we create the possibility of enriching and healing ourselves and each other. There is a spark within us that unites us all; plant, animal, air, earth, fire, water and human. We are like the threads of a beautiful tapestry which has been woven over eons of time."

www.adellebernadette.com

A Mother’s Joy

40.0 by 30.0 in.

2010-10-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hui Lin Liu: Stages of Nature

August 7th through Sept 25th

Blue Surf, 48" x 32", Mixed media, 2004, $300

Red Sky, 60" x 40", Mixed media, 2004, $3000

This exhibition consists of two mixed-media paintings that exemplify Hui Lin's painting experiments, Blue Surf & Red Sky. These works represent nature in a multitude of layers, vibrant seascapes & mountainous landscapes churning with life-force & creativity.

http://www.huilinliu.com

Hui Lin Liu is a Richmond-based abstract painter whose work encompasses years of experimentation. Her work reflects her deep curiosity about the magic of nature that permeates our visible and hidden surroundings here on Earth and in the infinite reaches of the Universe. Her painting process incorporates a unique combination of spontaneity and control. By pouring and mixing together different types of paint media, very organic and intricate patterns arise, while detailed brushwork unifies and completes the pieces. Hui Lin is currently working on an ongoing series of collage paintings where she arranges cut-up pieces of her paintings into vibrant new compositions.

Hui Lin Liu August 2010 in the Vivarium

2010-10-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

HUI LIN LIU: Eruption,
Painting Experiments

June 6, 2009- July 10, 2009

Eruption, a 80" X 60" painting, Painting Experiment series.

Hui Lin Liu is a Richmond-based abstract painter whose work encompasses years of experimentation in a wide range of media, including urethane, acrylic, watercolour and enamel. Her work reflects a deep curiosity about the magic of nature as it manifests everything from the microscopic to the cosmic. The vibrant colours, creative textures and overall composition of her art is thus inspired by the diversity of the natural world at all levels.

Hui Lin’s painting process incorporates a unique combination of spontaneity and control. Her technique of pouring and stirring allows a certain amount of the painting to create itself – the different media react with one another in unpredictable ways, so that chance plays a prominent role in her work. She incorporates a level of meticulous precision with detailed brushwork that serves to unify the layers of paints.

The six miniature collage paintings on display represent Hui Lin’s most current projects. As with her previous poured paintings, these pieces reflect a magnificent blend of chance and intention. She first creates large poured art pieces that are then cut up and arranged into vibrant new compositions – tiny worlds imbued with a history that reveals a depth of colour and dynamic interactions.
On display at the Vivarium Gallery is a piece entitled Eruption (2006, 60" x 80"), as well as six miniatures. Eruption is a mixed media piece that exemplifies Hui Lin's painting experiments. This piece represents the creative energy found both within oneself and in the natural world. There are undercurrents that eventually surface and explode in myriad ways. The artist’s expressive pathways reveal themselves both in her creative process and in the landscape of the
final work.

www.huilinliu.com

2010-10-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

Stages of Nature

August 7 - Sept 25, 2010

Eruption, Painting Experiment series

June 6, 2009- July 10, 2009

Of Hunger, Homelessness, and Spectacle.

2010-10-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

presented by VIVARIUM GALLERY & VIVO2010 SAFE ASSEMBLY

Performance/ Installation/ Public Intervention
Feb 14th - 21st 2010

Homelessness, has become Vancouver’s number one political, social and public embarrassment during the Olympics. Two years ago homelessness count identified 2,660 people who were homeless in the Metro Vancouver region, and the numbers keep growing. The performance/installation uses traditional forms of exhibition; a window display used in stores, and galleries to portray a façade that can be then further explored inside. The “inside” will not be a physical space but the viewer’s mind and their own inquiries. How do they relate to this issue within their own behavioral, emotional and physical parameters? How do they treat the homeless? and what do they do as part of this society to improve the quality of life of those who are not as fortunate? Emilio Rojas feels a personal necessity to actively address these questions (being away from his home country and forced to be homelessness on several occasions) and further explore his connection to the spectacle of social activism and durational performances.

"A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi

An hour long looped projection of night shots; possible locations where homeless people sleep particularly on the downtown east side. Empty pedestrian canvases that become places of refuge during the night. Remaining inside of the gallery, and traveling the city with a shopping cart media station, recording in video different areas of the city during the Olympics. Reading poetry behind the glass, and offering to sell “not for sale” books. Literature dealing with homelessness issues, existential philosophy, ironical titles, and sarcastic traveler's guides.

During the entire duration of the piece, the artist will be taking over the “2010 Homelessness Hunger Strike Relay”. This Relay began December 29th, 2009 in Vancouver and it has been gaining momentum ever since. Over 70 volunteers have participated in a week long fast to raise awareness about homelessness. Calling for the re-establishment of a National Housing Program based on the One Percent Solution in Canada. Each week new volunteers take on the Wooden Spoon, which stands as a symbol of resistance. Of Hunger, Homelessness, and Spectacle is an attempt to create a dialogue, and surface questions about a social problem that has been placed last on the agenda of the government.

This project could not be possible without the support and collaboration of:

VIVO 2010: Safe Assembly http://www.videoinstudios.com/
Vivarium Gallery, http://vivariumgallery.blogspot.com/
The White Pillows Collective http://whitepillows.blogspot.com
Homelessness Hunger Strike Relay. http://www.2010homelessness.ca/
Am Johal, Lois Klassen, Jamie Griffiths, and Christopher Rodrigues

2010-10-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Nationalism and Sports; The Only way to love
Video/ Performance
April 2010

Of Hunger, Homelessness, and Spectacle.
Performance/ Installation
Feb 14th - 21st 2010

artist website: www.performancero.com

Nationalism and Sports; The only way to love

2010-10-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

In collaboration with Patrick Blaeser.

Video Projection. 3 Channels.

Dusk to 11pm

Reception April 30, 2010.
7-11P
Performance from 9-10pm

What builds nationalism in sport? Why did thousands of people wear flags and paint their faces with Canadian maple leafs? Why does nationalism constructed through an identity of competitive sports exclude diversity? Is there a legacy left behind after these moments of vibrant Canadian “identity” fueled by a hockey game, and gold medals?

Nationalism and sport are repeatedly entangled, as sports provide a framework for symbolic competition between nations; one of the primary forms of banal nationalism.

Contrary to the fundamental ethos of sports this type of nationalist antagonism is charged with deep hatred, violence triggered by competition, and passionate behaviors that allow interactions outside the norms of daily conduct. Traditionally the Olympic Games are the highest stage for nationalist competition, being reflected in their history of political conflicts going back to their re-establishment at the end of the 1800’s.

Considered a matter of national pride, sport events like the final hockey game (Canada vs. the U.S.), allow homoerotic interactions between supporting members of the same team, and homophobic remarks against the adversaries that otherwise would be consider unacceptable.

Nationalism and Sports; The only way to love, a multi-layered, 6 Channel video installation by Emilio Rojas that critiques the construct of the stereotypical Canadian male, translated into white, heterosexual, and hyper-masculine. The video portrays the contradictions that these buoyant instances of nationalism offered in Vancouver on the day of the closing ceremonies, and the branding of nationalism present during the Olympics. Capturing an unrepeatable moment in Canadian history where two of the most homophobic spheres; nationalism and sports, ironically come together through homoerotic imagery and the fragmentation of the boundaries of Canadian politeness. Going far beyond a simple documentation of a performance the piece invites the viewer to reflect upon the futility of banal nationalism in this post-Olympic moment.

2010-10-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

a Vivarium is

a CONTAINER FOR LIFE... a SPACE FOR ART...
a CONCEPTUAL PLAYGROUND
...taking contemporary art wherever it wants to go.

The VIVARIUM GALLERY offers a large window space backed by a 12' x 12' rear projection screen. We exhibit all traditional art mediums, plus new media, film/video and online streaming performance. All exhibitions are archived on our website and can remain for sale even after the exhibition closes.

Established in the summer of 2008, our mission is to provide exhibition space to both established and emerging local artists, at low cost. We encourage our artists to think of the Vivarium as an experimental conceptual playground. We also support artists wishing to incorporate new technologies into their existing art practices and can provide technical expertise, consultation and training via workshops held in our studio/media lab.

The VIVARIUM GALLERY was co-founded by artists jamie griffiths and Christopher Rodrigues as a window front gallery in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver, BC, Canada. In the summer of 2010, Emilio Rojas joined the Vivarium curatorial team further broadening our programming to include performance and short term installations between the monthly exhibitions. Emilio is a performance artist and member of the Board of Directors of the Live Biennale, Vancouver, Canada as well as acting Assistant Curator at VIVO Media Arts Centre.

The VIVARIUM GALLERY has developed a community based patronage, promoting our artists through private invitation and word of mouth. Our mission is to continue to provide exhibition opportunities for local artists, while fostering a meeting place for the Arts and Culture community of Vancouver.

The Vivarium curatorial team has a strong interest in developing networks with other window galleries for simultaneous international streaming exhibits & arts events.

Free & low cost workshops are held regularly on topics of interest to our community, such as blogging, new media, technology art, Linux programming, Photoshop techniques etc. We are open to hearing your proposals for small workshops (maximum of 8 people/workshop).

Film Screenings can accommodate approx 35 people. Let us know if you are an independent filmmaker with a film you would like to screen for feedback from community.

Opening receptions are normally held on the second Saturday of each month.
Please check the calendar page for details.

'The Burial of St Lucy' by Jay Senetchko

Workshop with Emilio Rojas, Oct 2010

Vivarium Gallery Sidewalk Spring Blossoms

Vivarium...
- a container for life - (Latin, literally for "place of life"; plural: vivaria or vivariums) is a usually enclosed area for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Often, a portion of the ecosystem for a particular species is simulated on a smaller scale, with controls for environmental conditions.
- an ancient monastery for study founded by Roman Abbott and latin scholar, Cassiodorus, in the town of Squillace in the 6th century AD for the study and preservation of classical learning and devotional study by monks.

2010-10-23T19:33:00.001-07:00

Yew St Workshop Oct 2010

artist talk after a film screening

2010-10-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

Jay Senetchko

The Burial of Saint Lucy

Oct 2 - 24 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 2, 6-9pm

2130 Yew Street, Vancouver

The Burial of Saint Lucy, 2008
Oil on Canvas ,89 3/4" x 64 1/2"
$9000

On display at the Vivarium Gallery from October 2nd - 24th is a large scale oil painting, titled 'The Burial of St. Lucy', by Vancouver based artist Jay Senetchko. Please join us at our reception party on Saturday, October 2nd from 6-9pm to view the work and meet the artist.

While referencing history in a contemporary work of art risks alienating viewers, Senetchko's intention and hope is that his paintings will provoke an inquisitive response.

The Burial of St. Lucy is one painting in Senetchko's Apologia series. Apologia uses elements of iconic visual and literary works of art to invoke a contemplative ‘old-world’ look and feel. Elements from various art historical moments, periods, individual painters, specific paintings and literary works, along with philosophies of art, are combined to express a mood, an attitude, an idea, or thought about the past. The series represents a sort of visual “defense” of the tradition that has inspired, saddened, outraged, bemused and otherwise nurtured him.

To learn more of Jay's work please visit his website and contact the Jacana Gallery for details about his upcoming Still Life exhibition in 2011.

http://www.senetchko.ca

http://jacanagallery.com

2010-10-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

VIVARIUM GALLERY 2130 Yew Street, Vancouver, BC

Street level store-front studio (wheelchair accessible)

3D Aquarium, Scharein/griffiths

'Planet 11', Christopher Rodrigues

2010-10-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

VIVARIUM GALLERY

2130 Yew Street. Kitsilano
Vancouver BC Canada V6K 3G7
vivariumgallery(at)gmail(dot)com

phone number supplied by email request

NB We use MailChimp (an anti-spam compliant registered software) to send out our monthly invitations to artist receptions and announcements. We never sell, or allow anyone else access to your email address. You have the option to unsubscribe from the list at any time. We welcome feedback on this service.

2010-10-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

joe average

Doyle and Siebens

jamie griffiths

Gabryel Harrison

Toni Latour

Rita Leroux

Hui Lin Liu

Christopher Rodrigues

Emillio Rojas

Rob Scharein

Jay Senetchko