An Era of Art
The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is a masterpiece on its own, before one even takes a step inside to see the art pieces it displays. Complete with a central dome and ionic columns, the marble gallery is a sight to behold. It is no surprise that the popular building was named in 1980 as a National Historic Site of Canada.
Boasting its title as the fifth-largest gallery in Canada, the VAG is a part of a three-block complex (including features such as an outdoor plaza and a number of restaurants), and it contains a gift shop, a library, and a café. It is the permanent home of more than 10,000 works of art, notably the Emily Carr collection, and frequently hosts exhibitions on tour. The art pieces are in a number of different mediums, including paintings, photographs, installation pieces, and sculptures, among others.
When I visited the VAG for the first time in the early autumn, I quickly fell in love with its spectacular collection of a diverse number of art pieces. The above picture shows only a small portion of the installation “Bang” by artist Ai Weiwei, who used 886 stools (as well as a few wooden support beams) to commemorate the history of stools in Chinese culture in which stools were handed down from generation to generation. This large-scale artwork was a part of the VAG’s Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Chinese Contemporary Art exhibition featuring the works of contemporary Chinese artists spanning three generations.
I took my time perusing amongst the VAG’s artworks for a couple hours as I made sure to see as many of the art pieces displayed over four floors as I could. I spent most of my time looking at the Emily Carr collection, however, as it included not only works by the artist herself, but paintings inspired by Carr’s life and art. It is this that was most inspiring to me — to see the history and effect of art on viewers long after its creation and the death of its creator. Just like art, we all hope to be remembered long after our era, after our lifetime, has ended.
