Tobi Fairley & Vancouver Art Gallery

Another beautiful day was spent with Tobi Fairley, while she was visiting Vancouver, this time at the Art Gallery. We met for lunch on the terrace, sitting amidst fragrant jasmine on a gorgeous sunny day. The temperature was high but we were in the shade and too busy talking (or listening as in my case) to notice it.
Patricia Gray, Maria Killam, Michelle Morelan and I were all around Tobi, eager to know her better. The conversation was fascinating and, even if we only met the previous day, there was so much to share.
After lunch we went inside the Gallery for a tour.
First was the "Ought apartment" installation by the talented Vancouver artist (and contractor...) Reece Terris, a must see for any Interior designer or for any nostalgic person.

"Commissioned by the Gallery, Ought Apartment will consist of a tower that rises from the main floor to the full height of the central rotunda, in which sections from six apartments are stacked one on top of another. Each apartment will be furnished with discarded items from the 1950s (on the lowest level) up to the present decade (at the top). Through this process of “making strange,” Terris invites viewers to consider their relationship to the consumption and construction of domestic space and the role this space plays in locating a public as social subjects".

We then proceed to view The golden age of Dutch art a very impressive collection of art and objet d'art from The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

"This historic exhibition assembles some of the finest paintings by the masters of the Golden Age, as well as an outstanding selection of drawings and decorative arts that testify to the artistic sophistication achieved during this period, providing a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of this vibrant, urbane and remarkably wealthy new society."
A "camera obscura" (or veiled chamber) and a series of short documentaries were also worth spending some time at the Gallery. (More on camera obscura and David Hockney's fascinating theory about this optical device's use in painting will be the subject of another post).

There were many other exhibitions to visit but being a passionate of photography I wanted Tobi to see Andreas Gurski's "Werke-Works 80-08" .

James Bond III Island, 2007 C-Print

"This groundbreaking exhibition presents a remarkable overview of the work of Andreas Gursky, the celebrated Düsseldorf-based photographer who is widely renowned for his ongoing project to compile an ‘encyclopedia of life.’ Now, for the first time ever, Gursky has chosen to present more than 70 works from throughout his career (...) Andreas Gursky: Werke/Works 80-08 offers a radical departure in the presentation of Gursky’s work. The majority of the photographs in the exhibition are printed in a small format that has not been used by the artist since the early 1980s and it is significant that he has chosen to do so at this time. For many years, Gursky has utilized increasingly larger formats in his work, monumental in scale and vision, but with this exhibition it is possible to revisit many familiar works at a scale and in a context that encourages a reconsideration of the individual images and his oeuvre as a whole (...)"
Gursky's talent is recognized widely and he is a the top of the photography art market, in fact one of his pictures "99 cents II" sold at Sotheby's for US 3.34 million only two years ago (I wonder if it would have fetched that price 6 months ago) setting the record for highest price paid at auction for a single photographic image.

99 cents Diptych

Gursky almost always shoots at a distance, for his point of view he climbs balconies and roofs, photographs from cranes and in recent years even more frequently from helicopters. He also uses manipulation and multiple images which blend in one, that is why some of his projects take years to be completed. Canadian Art magazine has a great interview with Gursky on the occasion of his recent visit to Vancouver for the installation of this exhibition, which he carefully planned himself.
Thanks again to Ivan Meade who corresponded with Tobi regularly and gave us the opportunity to meet during her visit in Vancouver.

It was another delightful day with Tobi!

(Italic text and color images source: VAG website - B&W photograph by Albarosa Simonetti)
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