It seems that there is some sort of trend going on in Vancouver's commercial gallery world - or at least at those not yet fully established and wanting somehow to pay their rent.Smaller art + smaller prices = bigger sales?
Over the holidays I attended showings at gallery atsui and the Autumn Brook Gallery respectively. Having noticed the notice in The Georgia Straight for the Autumn Brook Gallery showing - it was a last minute stop on our way home from one of the many awards-nominated movies I have indulged in over the holidays. Once we found a spot where the car wouldn't be sideswiped due to the non-existent snow plowing of the side streets we found we were hopping out just as quickly as we had hopped in. I know the fantastic space quite well and know what it can do, so smaller pieces here could work - in theory. But when the overall artistic quality is not so fantastic it takes a bit more than friends and family to get those little red dots on the labels.
I thought their first mistake was not grouping by artist but instead mixing the artists together on the walls. The cohesiveness (if there was any) between pieces was lost and therefore so was the visual impact. If they were grouped with a theme in mind, I didn't see any. The image provided here is the one used in the piece The Georgia Straight published but was not, unfortunately, how the pieces ended up being shown. They were displayed on multi-levels and ended up looking like a mish-mash. A nice touch was giving out name labels for artists in attendance. Presumably you could go up to them and ask about their work, but in the short time there I'm not sure I spotted more than one artist sporting his label. There was also a cappuccino bar on site - for a price - but for a evening out on a cold Vancouver night I really can't say enough about the availability of a complimentary hot beverage -- whether its hot in the cup or warming your insides with a de rigueur glass of wine.
While the Autumn Brook is located in a respectable area of town just off the Granville Island turn-off on 4th Avenue; gallery atsui requires a more adventurous first-time gallery-goer - located a few blocks west of Main on the notorious fringes of Hastings Street. In my case it required a co-ordinated meet in front of the gallery - my friend (the gallery goer only when I go;-) arriving via a black SUV whereas I opted for translink and the knowledge of a cab home at the end of the night -- as this was our first stop on a festive pre-Xmas, pre-snowstorms outing. Having yet to check out the gallery collective I had only heard good things about, I was not disappointed when I arrived at gallery atsui. It is both relatively spacious and unpretentious. The one rarely comes with the other. I could spot 2 of the 3 owners: Sascha Yamashita and Alex Grewal working the room with their work represented on the walls as well. You were given a number on your way in -- your buying card -- so you could remain anonymous when it was called while still being encouraged to buy. You could tell the crowd was a mix of friends and family with a few curious buyers thrown in. With 100 pieces in all - 10 x 10 as it was called - was about 70% sold when we walked in at quarter to 9. I had no doubt they would have no problem selling out this show. The only thing missing here was a free cocktail and my own $100 to buy my boyfriend a fanciful piece that caught my eye...but they have to pay the rent somehow so I bought myself a glass of red.
