The Polygon Gallery began operating in the 1970’s as Presentation House Gallery out of an old schoolhouse in North Vancouver at 333 Chesterfield Avenue. They would come to define themselves as a major photo-based institution in 1983 with an exhibition of photographs by Richard Avedon. From this point on, they would put on exhibitions by local, national, and international photo and media based artists.
The range of exhibitions they have put on in the past have included, “Nanitch: Early Photographs of British Columbia from the Langmann Collection” (an exhibition of archival photographs from the Uno Langmann collection at UBC), “Lee Friedlander: Thick of Things” (a survey exhibition of photographs by famed photographer Lee Friedlander), and “Kelly Lycan: Underglow” (installations based on the history of the Gallery and of Alfred Stieglitz’s Gallery 291 created by Vancouver-based artist Kelly Lycan).
Besides exhibitions, the Gallery has also involved itself in other projects as part of their mandate to explore different interpretations of visual culture. This has included an adherence to the publications, either through their bookstore or publishing their own. Their bookstore is committed to stocking a wide variety of photo books, providing the Vancouver area with a location to be introduced to and to buy the most contemporary photo books. Through their publications, they have experimented with different ways to translate their exhibitions into print and have worked with many artists on artists books such as the Lynn Valley series.
They are also committed to helping and working with artists, both established and emerging. For example, over the years, they have put together exhibitions to showcase local and emerging artists. In their early years, there was “Photo-perspective”, a juried exhibition of local photographers. Recently they have helped showcase the Lind Prize, another juried exhibition of photo and lens based artists chosen from local universities such as UBC or Emily Carr (the students are chosen by faculty members). Since 2008, they have also run the Chesterfields photo contest, a juried exhibition based on submissions made by local high school students.
They have also engaged in research projects that look at lesser known aspects of photographic history, especially local phenomenon. Such projects have included their reprint of the B.C Alamanac(h) C-B, a book containing several different photo books created by different local photographers and published by the National Film Board in 1970. They have also recently printed a book in conjunction with Grunt Gallery about the Mainstreeters, an art collective active during the 1970’s in Vancouver. This also followed an exhibition put on by the gallery at Satellite Gallery, a now defunct gallery space they shared with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, The Museum of Anthropology, and the Charles H. Scott Gallery.
In 2016, the gallery received major funding from the several parties, Polygon Homes, the Audain Foundation, the City of North Vancouver, the Provincial and Federal Government, and the Chan Family Foundation. With this funding they have been able to move to a newly constructed building by the waterfront at Lower Lonsdale. They have also renamed themselves Polygon Gallery and hope to continue the mandate set in their days as Presentation House.
Links to Images used in the poster (Left to Right, Up to Down):
- (Banner) Screenshot of https://thepolygon.ca/
- http://winsorgallery.blogspot.ca/2014/09/jessica-eaton-at-presentation-house.html (Exterior of Presentation House)
- https://www.straight.com/arts/618466/ground-broken-new-polygon-gallery-north-vancouver (Photo at groundbreaking ceremony of new Polygon site)
- http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/north+vancouver+waterfront+gallery+breaks+ground/11660336/story.html (Architect’s mockup of exterior of Polygon Gallery)
- https://thepolygon.ca/exhibition/richard-avedon-a-survey/ (Card for Richard Avedon Exhibition)
- https://thepolygon.ca/exhibition/nanitch-early-photographs-of-british-columbia-from-the-langmann-collection/ (Documentation photo of “Nanitch” Exhibition)
- http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/north+vancouver+waterfront+gallery+breaks+ground/11660336/story.html (Architect’s mockup of interior of Polygon Gallery)