1. SHEN YUAN at Centre A, Vancouver
April 6 – May 5, 2007

Shen Yuan, Blue Freeway, 2003. Image: centrea.org

Curated by Hank Bull, Makiko Hara, this exhibition offers a preview of the artist who will represent China at this year’s Venice Biennale. The exhibition features four major installation works from the late 1990s to the present that bring together several cities including Beijing, Paris, Venice, Istanbul, Brussels, San Francisco and Vancouver.

The show at Centre A has been organized in conjunction with Huang Yong Ping’s exhibition House of Oracles: A Huang Yong Ping Retrospective on view from April 5 to September 16, 2007 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Huang Yong Ping, 11 June 2002 - The Nightmare of George V, 2002. Image: vanartgallery.bc.ca

Don’t miss these events:

Saturday April 7
11:00-12:00: Gallery talk by Shen Yuan in Chinese with English interpretation) at Centre A ?
14:30-15:30: Panel: Chinese Art on the Move: Beijing Paris, Venice, Istanbul, Brussles, San Francisco, Vancouver at Vancouver Art Galley 4th East Galley ; Shen Yuen, Huang Yong Ping, Hou Hanru and Evelyne Joanno

15:30-16:30 Evelyn and Hou Hanru’s presentation on the upcoming project for Venice, Istanbul, and Brussels (followed by Q & A)

2. BRIAN JUNGEN at Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver
27 April – 26 May 2007

Brian Jungen, Furniture Sculpture, 2006. Image: catrionajeffries.com

3. ISABELLE HAYEUR & ERIC RAYMOND at Trinity Square Video, Toronto
March 29 - April 28, 2007

Tunnel Vision, Isabelle Hayeur & Eric Raymond, 2007. Image: trinitysquarevideo.com

VoCA urges you to see this excellent installation!

Presented as part of the Images Festival of Film, Video and New Media, Hayeur and Raymond use 3D animation, video, lighting and sound to create the illusion of a deep and sinuous tunnel that extends from the end of the gallery.

In Tunnel Vision, Hayeur and Raymond have adopted the history of the trompe l’oeil painting to the realm of video in a simple and highly effective installation that eventually shows the viewer the light at the end of the tunnel.

4. The Watch Man by SHONA ILLINGWORTH at InterAccess, Toronto
April 5 - May 12, 2007

A drawing by Martin Conway (made in conversation with Shona Illingworth) 2005-06. Image: reporter.leeds.ac.uk

Curated by Rhonda Corvese and presented as part of Toronto’s Images Festival, The Watch Man
explores the conflict between trauma memory and the need for a coherent life story, through the experience of an 80 year old watchmaker. The film’s accompanying sound composition uses technologies originally developed by the US Navy.

5. SMIRITI MEHRA & SARAH NASBY, Anna Leonowens Gallery, NSCAD University, Halifax
April 2 - 7, 2007

Sound Unsound, Smriti Mehra, 2007. Image: NSCAD

The gallery presents two MFA thesis exhibitions. Sound Unsound by Smriti Mehra is an investigation into experiences of schizophrenia and capitalism through the work of the Creative Writing Group at the Connections Clubhouse in Halifax. The installation seeks to question the need to conform to a ‘normal’ way of functioning in society. “My video project involved participation in the group on a weekly basis over a period of sixteen months. The group’s writings, in the form of prose, poetry, song lyrics, scripts and journal entries, provided powerful and direct testimony of their experiences. To that end, Sound Unsound speaks of larger stories.”

Sarah Nasby presents Souvenir of Halifax: DIY Design & the Souvenir. “My project applies the idea of user-driven design to the souvenir. User-driven design is a DIY design approach that is based on the contribution of user input. Called ‘Design 2.0′ by Ellen Lupton, user-driven design allows for personal expression within a world of mass-produced objects. When applied to souvenirs, it opens up the potential for new ways of memorializing the city based on the interpretation of the individual instead of relying on the prescribed content of existing souvenirs.”