Contemporary Art Gallery Poster
History
The Contemporary Art Gallery (CAG), established in 1971 began as the Greater Vancouver Artist’s Gallery, hiring artists for six month periods to produce art for exhibition until 1978. The CAG transitioned into an artist-run centre in 1984, providing an initial platform for many of Vancouver’s important artists such as Brian Jungen, Germaine Koh, and Steven Shearer. In 1996 the CAG transitioned once again into its current state as an independent public art gallery, now delivering ten to twenty exhibitions and projects every year free of charge through an admission by donation policy.
Mandate
The Contemporary Art Gallery is dedicated to providing exhibitions, research, education and documentation of contemporary visual art from local and international artists. Attracting diverse audiences through its free open hours, school programs, public programs and membership opportunities the CAG seeks to generate interest and debate in contemporary art. The CAG promotes knowledge and access to contemporary art through its exhibitions, visual arts resources, displaying some of the City of Vancouver Art Collection by loan and, development of relationships between art, artists and audiences to open discussion and understanding of contemporary visual art.
Operations
The Contemporary Art Gallery operates as a non-profit public art gallery, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Vancouver, BC Arts Council and other government divisions, along with private donations from members and donors. Employing around 12 staff, the CAG also engages many volunteers in various positions in the gallery, as well as a handful of students from UBC and SFU each semester that work in positions like educational assistant, curatorial assistant and gallery assistant. The CAG operates from its main location on Nelson street while also engaging in satellite projects in the community, and at the Yaletown skytrain station.
Current Exhibitions
Site For Still Life by Vancouver-based artist Andrew Dadson explores boundaries in relation to space and time through exploration with materials, process and abstraction. Central to the exhibition are Dadson’s House Plants (2017), a collection of house plants painted a single colour and lit with UV lamps. The relationship between plants and humans is highlighted in a slow motion power struggle, as the exhibition continues the plants will eventually grow new shoots to reveal their natural colours and return to their original state.
Full Frontal by Lyse Lemieux is taking place on the Gallery facade and off-site at the Yaletown-Roundhouse Skytrain Station. Lemieux’s practice is often described as focused on drawing, bringing into her work abstract references of the human figure. For this exhibition the exterior of the CAG is quite literally covered by Lemieux’s abstract forms.