The Vancouver Art Gallery has announced a tally of 334 works added to its collection this year, with the lion's share of the works coming from private donors.

Among the newly acquired pieces are works by Israeli-American, L.A.-based artist Elad Lassry and local street photographer Fred Herzog, as well as contemporary works by Indigenous artists Brian Jungen, Sonny Assu, and Wayne Alfred.

Another important work is the 65-photograph installation Tree Planting (2003-4), from Winnipeg-born artist Sarah Anne Johnson, chronicling the titular and so-Canadian job and gifted to the gallery by the artist.

Meanwhile, Jungen's impressive 2018 sculpture of Nike Air Jordans, Warrior 4, has been purchased with funds from the Vancouver Art Gallery Acquisition Fund and the Jean MacMillan Southam Art Acquisition Endowment.

And Vancouver-based photography collectors Claudia Beck and Andrew Gruft donated 41 works last year, including he large-scale colour photograph The Asphalt Layer by Vancouver artist Stephen Waddell.

In a press statement today, gallery director Kathleen Bartels said: “The Gallery is proud to add remarkable works of art to its collection due to an outpouring of support by donors from Canada and abroad in 2018 . These gifts further strengthen the collection, especially our holdings of contemporary artworks by BC-based artists and prominent Indigenous artists, as well as photography and photo-conceptual works. Thanks to the generosity of a number of individuals, including artists themselves, these works will be available to the people of Vancouver and its visitors to enjoy.”

The VAG's collection now boasts more than 12,000 artworks, with hopes to show more of the pieces when it moves into a planned new building at West Georgia and Cambie streets.