"Something happened 100 years ago that changed the way we think about art and the way we see the world. The last time this happened they called it the Renaissance, this time we've called it MashUp."

So reads a hand-out from the Vancouver Art Gallery about its latest exhibition. It's the biggest in the history of the gallery, and it speaks to the development of the artistic climate we find ourselves living in today. MashUp: The Birth of Modern Culture examines the evolution of contemporary art and creative methodolgies over the course of four distinct time periods.

The exhibit doesn't open to the public until February 20 (Saturday), but today the Straight got to take an early look at the VAG's massive exploration of the development of mashup culture. 

Curators Daina Augaitis, Bruce Grenville, and Stephanie Rebick guided media through all four floors of the gallery to observe 371 works by 156 artists, filmmakers, architects, musicians, and designers. Some well-known artists whose work can be found within the maze of MashUp include Pablo Picasso, Hannah Höch, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Richard Prince, and Stan Douglas.

The exhibition spans the course of nearly 150 years, with each floor dedicated to a specific time period.

Visitors to the gallery will go back in time as they travel from the first floor, The Digital Age: Hacking, Remix and the Archive in the Age of Post Production, to The Late 20th Century: Splicing, Sampling and the Street in the Age of Appropriation on the second floor.

Works by Andy Warhol and Dara Birnbaum can be found within The Post-War: Cut, Copy and Quotation in the Age of Mass Media on the third floor, while works by Pablo Picasso and Hannah Höch can be found within the Early 20th Century: Collage, Montage and Readymade at the Birth of Modern Culture on the fourth floor.

MashUp will be on display at the Vancouver Art gallery until June 12. 

For a better idea of what to expect, check out these photographs from our visit to the gallery earlier today. Purchase tickets to MashUp here.