Robin Laurence

Presentation House's C.1983, Part 1 is a refreshing photo flashback

By Robin Laurence | February 8, 2012

Our city is so well known internationally as a centre for photo-based art that a collective term long ago emerged to describe its major proponents: the Vancouver School.

Stan Douglas: Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 restages conflict that shaped our city

By Robin Laurence | February 8, 2012

This slender but amply illustrated book addresses a monumental photomural, Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971, located in the atrium of the recent Woodward’s development in the Downtown Eastside.

Waiting amid windy rooms and mirror images in Waiting For

By Robin Laurence | February 1, 2012

Four artists—Natalie Doonan, Matilda Aslizadeh, Gwenessa Lam, and Natasha McHardy—meditate on various manifestations of the act of waiting while also responding to the history and architecture of Centre A.

Babak Golkarâ��s Persian carpets rise in 3-D at the Charles H. Scott Gallery

Babak Golkar’s Persian carpets rise in 3-D at the Charles H. Scott Gallery

By Robin Laurence | January 25, 2012

In Grounds for Standing and Understanding, Babak Golkar uses his art to create dialogues between cultures—East and West, modern and premodern.

Artist Annika Rixen's Sciences of Observation explores colour and light

By Robin Laurence | January 18, 2012

Annika Rixen’s experiments with light and photography are curious and unresolved.

Painting the stage Red

By Robin Laurence | January 12, 2012

For his portrait at the Playhouse, Canadian actor Jim Mezon finds new meaning in the fiery hues of abstractionist Mark Rothko.

The creative sparks flew in Vancouver's arts scene in 2011

By Colin Thomas, Guy MacPherson, Janet Smith, Jessica Werb, and Robin Laurence | December 29, 2011

When you look back on 2011’s arts events, it’s not the overall shows you remember but the small, unforgettable moments.

Christopher Brayshaw's Into Thin Air is a quiet revelation

By Robin Laurence | December 19, 2011

It takes nerve to establish your reputation as an art critic and curator and then present yourself to the world as an artist.

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Dubai mirrors Vancouver in Maraya

By Robin Laurence | December 6, 2011

Vancouver-based architectural critic Trevor Boddy captures the master-planning connections between the north shore of False Creek and the Dubai Marina in photographs and videos.

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Studies in Decay negotiates a new approach to realism

By Robin Laurence | November 29, 2011

The works of contemporary artists Raymond Boisjoly, Jordy Hamilton, and Laura Piasta employ different forms, materials, and strategies, but come together in this exhibit at the Or Gallery.

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Takao Tanabe's painted journey

By Robin Laurence | November 22, 2011

One of Canada’s most esteemed senior artists reflects on how his world travels have inspired his watercolour, pastel, and photographic works.

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SFU Gallery celebrates Jerry Pethick's ventures into photoarrays

By Robin Laurence | November 15, 2011

Thirty small, mixed-media, wall-mounted works produced by the beloved West Coast artist are on display at the SFU Gallery.

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Gathie Falk fashions scary beauty with Presence and Absence

By Robin Laurence | November 9, 2011

Clothing is the chief symbol of the human figure in Falk’s exhibition at the Equinox Gallery.

Danny Singer's Drive-by captures fleeting sensations of our vehicular existence

By Robin Laurence | November 1, 2011

Danny Singer has produced a 70-foot-long, three-foot-high, digitized panorama of photographs taken from a moving automobile for Drive-by.

Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art From the Audain Collection brings the private into the public

By Robin Laurence | October 27, 2011

Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa took a long time to get comfortable with exhibiting their personal collection at the VAG.

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Brendan Fernandes explores displacement and disempowerment in Disscontinent

By Robin Laurence | October 18, 2011

The Toronto- and New York-based artist examines the integral role language plays in the shaping of cultural identity.

At the Museum of Anthropology, artist Ishiuchi Miyako turns her lens on vestiges of Hiroshima

By Robin Laurence | October 13, 2011

At the same time that Ishiuchi’s photos call up one of the most horrific moments in human history, they also attempt a release from that history.

Measure of a Man author JJ Lee discovers memories in a well-tailored suit

By Robin Laurence | October 13, 2011

The fashion columnist and art critic weaves remembrances of his childhood and his apprenticeship at Chinatown's legendary Modernize Tailors.

Larry Clark's Tulsa and Kohei Yoshiyuki's The Park turns us into voyeurs

By Robin Laurence | October 5, 2011

Rarely have two photography exhibits at the Presentation House Gallery been so uncompromising.

Vancouver Art Gallery traces its own history of shifting ideals with An Autobiography of Our Collection

By Robin Laurence | September 28, 2011

In a sweeping new show designed to mark its 80th anniversary, the Vancouver Art Gallery looks back at decades of eclectic acquisitions.

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Landon Mackenzie's Crossing Over, Why Cloud the Whites is spectacular and intimate

By Robin Laurence | September 20, 2011

The Vancouver artist's exhibition at the Richmond Art Gallery includes 13 paintings on linen together with a flurry of watercolour and ink studies on paper, all produced in the last five years.

Raymond Boisjoly and Rebecca Chaperon: Artists draw inspiration from black metal and fairy tales

By Robin Laurence | September 15, 2011

Raymond Boisjoly's art channels black metal, while Rebecca Chaperon taps the unconscious mind.

Fall arts preview: Visual arts critics' picks: From Larry Clark to hot neon, the art world lights up

By Robin Laurence | September 15, 2011

The fall visual-arts calendar promises wonderful variety—from local to international, historic to contemporary, wood engravings to digital media.

Wood and silkscreens herald Contemporary Art Gallery's 40th anniversary

By Robin Laurence | September 14, 2011

New director Nigel Price puts his stamp on the downtown space, handing out magnifying glasses and introducing a 1960s pop-artist nun.

Ron Terada pays homage to late artist Jack Goldstein

By Robin Laurence | September 6, 2011

Twenty-four text paintings, a photograph, and a trompe l’oeil sculpture remember a doomed, pain-ridden soul.

Tayu Hayward finds adventure in We Donâ��t Live Here Anymore

Tayu Hayward finds adventure in We Don’t Live Here Anymore

By Robin Laurence | August 30, 2011

This young photographer hikes or bikes into remote areas to capture scenic landscapes ranging from snowy mountain tops to rock formations in the high desert.

Two urban agriculture projects bring art to Vancouver's gardens

By Robin Laurence | August 22, 2011

Grow: An Art + Urban Agriculture Project and the Means of Production Artists’ Raw Resource Collective aim to fuse art and agriculture.

Monomania celebrates Vancouver art

By Robin Laurence | August 9, 2011

Trench Contemporary Art gallerist Craig Sibley shows off 106 works by 38 artists, including Carrie Walker, Ken Lum, and Davida Kidd.

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Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration is an attractive exhibition

By Robin Laurence | August 2, 2011

This overview of the influence of Japanese woodcut traditions on the early evolution of Inuit stonecuts, stencils, and lithographs has the air of an art-history lecture.

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Two Vancouver art galleries head outdoors

By Robin Laurence | July 21, 2011

Elspeth Pratt brightens up Vancouver Art Gallery’s Offsite space, while the Contemporary Art Gallery’s Ron Tran takes a walk.

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Karlheinz Weinberger captures rebellious youth in Intimate Stranger

By Robin Laurence | June 28, 2011

Some 70 or so black-and-white prints and a selection of coloured slides capture self-styled rebels in Switzerland.

Shary Boyle's Flesh and Blood an unusual study in contrasts

By Robin Laurence | June 21, 2011

Shary Boyle possesses one of the most distinctive sensibilities in postmodern Canadian culture.

Howie Tsui's Celestials of Saltwater City is haunted

By Robin Laurence | June 14, 2011

The Ottawa-based artist collects ghost stories from Chinese-Canadian elders for his newest project.

Robert McNealy's Skullduggery has roots in archaeology

By Robin Laurence | June 14, 2011

The artist, best known as a creator of mixed-media installations and public art, traces our physical evolution as a species through painting.

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Kontakt examines conceptual works from the former Yugoslavia

By Robin Laurence | June 7, 2011

Kontakt is one of those exhibitions that reads better as an idea than as a visual entity—but then the same can be said for conceptualism’s early, anti-object days.

The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art an enthralling survey show

By Robin Laurence | May 30, 2011

Walk into the dimly lit gallery that introduces you to The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art, and you are immediately immersed in a realm of encompassing strangeness.

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Visions of Mexican Art reveals a country's artistic legacy

By Robin Laurence | May 19, 2011

Enlightened government support has helped nourish a cultural richness on display in Vancouver this month.

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Brad Phillips's Somebody Write Me emerges from the abyss

By Robin Laurence | May 18, 2011

There’s something blackly satirical about Brad Phillips’s show of paintings, Somebody Write Me.

ECUADâ��s 2011 Degree Exhibition features an overwhelming variety of expression

ECUAD’s 2011 Degree Exhibition features an overwhelming variety of expression

By Robin Laurence | May 10, 2011

It’s that fertile season: flowering trees, trilling birds, new graduates budding in all directions. But how to do justice to them, especially to the 306 grads bursting forth this spring from Emily Carr University of Art + Design?

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Carl Beam retrospective speaks to both the particular and the universal

By Robin Laurence | May 4, 2011

Carl Beam’s Anishinabe family name derives from a word meaning “bird” or “feather”—and birds, wings, and feathers are recurring symbols in the often soaring work of this late artist.

Sylvia Tait: A Classical Spirit is a mini-retrospective of a West Coast original

By Robin Laurence | April 19, 2011

Sylvia Tait’s abstract paintings are so filled with luscious colour and vibrant brushwork that it’s easy to read them as paeans to life and the sensuous possibilities of her medium.

Photographer Brian Howell gets up close with sculptures on wheels

By Robin Laurence | April 14, 2011

In his Shopping Carts exhibit, Brian Howell’s photos of real-life binners’ collections speak to our society’s cast-offs.

Hadley+Maxwell explore the undecidable status of the human in Who That Happens

By Robin Laurence | April 5, 2011

A swarm of ideas and sensations surrounds Who That Happens.

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Ron Tran's It Knows Not What It Is swells with reverential meaning

By Robin Laurence | March 28, 2011

Among the works that compose the installation is a small, iconlike painting of a star-filled sky dominated by a stick-shaped constellation.

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LES Gallery exhibition brings together Dan Siney's photography and Heather Martin's textile art

By Robin Laurence | March 22, 2011

A modest yet surprising show illuminates the power of imperfect patterns and subtle repetition.

12 Midnite's Taking Liberties shows that lowbrow just means approachable

By Robin Laurence | March 16, 2011

The graffitist, neon artist, hot-rod builder, alternative gallerist, set painter, sign maker, and grunge-country musician also known as Shon Franks has created a big show of neo-pop work for the Elliott Louis Gallery.

Burnaby Art Gallery exhibition takes a serious look at Sybil Andrews

By Robin Laurence | March 8, 2011

Whether her subject was racing motorcycles or towering trees, logging trucks or concert halls, costumed dancers or plough horses, Sybil Andrews imbued her prints with extraordinary energy and enthusiasm.

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