Events Archive 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003      
 

LatentCity Publication Launch and Closing Reception

Friday, November 10, 2006, 7:30 pm

Celebrate the launch of the publication for LatentCity, the exhibition of works by Curtis Grahauer, Andrew Kent, Scott Massey, Alex Pensato, Kara Uzelman and Danna Vajda.

The publication features colour plates of the works in the show, an essay by Willie Briscoe, director of Galerie Werner Whitman, and a foreword by Lance Blomgren at the Helen Pitt Gallery.

Published by the Helen Pitt Gallery in conjunction with the LatentCity exhibition, held October 20 to Novemver 11, 2006.
ISBN 0-9782165-2-0
32 pages, soft cover, color plates, 5.5” x 8.5”

 
     

 

The Helen Pitt Gallery and Insomniac Press present

The Vancouver book launch of:
The Mole Chronicles: a novel by Andy Brown
This Will All End in Tears: a graphic novel by Joe Ollmann

Saturday, November 11 at 8:00 pm

At the Helen Pitt Gallery, Montrealers Andy Brown and Joe Ollmann will be presenting multimedia-enhanced readings of their recently published books by Insomniac Press in Toronto.

Brown’s Mole Chronicles traces the complexities of family relationships through a paranoid landscape of skin disease, secret societies, eco-terrorism and post-global culture. Recalling Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor, Brown’s innovative novel shifts between the weathered streets of Montreal and the uneasy utopian beauty of Vancouver to locate an associative site of regret, humour and longing—the often malignant traces of our upbringing and cultural surroundings.

"Brown's conflations of self and landscape, illness and passage are insightful reminders of the vast overlapping surfaces that structure contemporary experience. And the prose is good too — subtle, daring at times, always assured. I enjoyed reading this book. A lot."
— Michael Turner

In the five, long-form stories that comprise This Will All End in Tears, Joe Ollmann finds inspiration in the forgettable, magical and disturbing moments of the mundane—our uncomfortable silences, subtle acts of self-delusion and fleeting seconds of self-awareness. Ollmann’s illustrated tales reveal a remarkable sense of detail, unforgettable characters and delicate narrative structure which lulls the reader into a place that is part Charles Schulz, part Edward Gorey.

Originally from Vancouver, Andy Brown is the author of the short story collection I can see you being invisible (D.C. Books, 2003). He is an editor of Matrix magazine and the founder of conundrum press. His writing has appeared extensively in publications throughout North America.

Joe Ollmann is a cartoonist who lives Montreal by way of Hamilton, Ontario. He is the author of two other books, Chewing on Tinfoil (2001) and The Big Book of Wag! (2006). Other comics and animation may be viewed by visiting the web co-ordinates www.wagpress.net. Ollmann also works as the art director at Ascent, Canada's only yoga magazine.

 

 

     

 

Open Slide Night
Friday, October 27th, at 7pm

Artists Presenting:
Mark Dudiak

Dawn Johnston
Meg Hubert

Starting in the New Year, the gallery will commence a series of open slide showings on the last Friday of every month, for artists who would like to present their work to the public. We are hoping this regular event will attract a wide range of artists and generate discussion and new connections within the community. Contact the gallery at (604).681.6740 to reserve a time for presenting your work

   
     

 

Save the Date
A Wedding, Dinner and Fundraiser for the Helen Pitt Gallery.

Thursday, October 19, 2006
3102 Main Street (Heritage Hall)

We cordially invite you to join us for the Helen Pitt Gallery fall fundraiser—a wedding themed dinner, reception and dance formal. The dinner will feature a buffet of culinary specialties by Vancouver’s most famous, non-famous and infamous artists, writer, curators and socialites. The cornucopia of dishes will span from the savory to the eccentric, complimented by the new Helen Pitt Gallery wine—a premium vintage created for this special, romantic event.

Will Helen finally commit? Or will she leave her beloved at the altar?

We hope to see you there.

Drinks at 7:30 pm
Dinner (dishes by artists) at 8:00 pm
Vows and reception at 9:00 pm
Dancing at 10:00 pm

Call (604) 681-6740 to RSVP $20

   
     
Participants:
Stephanie Aitken
Gaile Addison
Arabella Campbell
Jessie Caryl
Mark Dudiak
Johann Groebner
Charlotte Jackson
Christian Kliegel
Germaine Koh
Natasha McHardy
Graham Meisner
Gareth Moore
Heidi Nagtegaal
Gailan Ngan
Christy Nyiri

Emilie O’Brien
Josh Olson
Bobbi Parker
Isabelle Pauwels
Marina Roy
Pietro Sammarco
St. George Marsh
Erica Stocking
Jeremy Todd
Ron Tran
Henry Tsang
Michael Turner
Kara Uzelman
Steve Walters
James Whitman
   
     

 

An animation workshop and discussion by:
Amy Lockhart
Saturday, July 15 at 1:30 pm
Free admission

In conjunction with Lockhart’s exhibition, Faking It, currently showing at the Helen Pitt Gallery, the artist will be offering a workshop on the animation process, as well as a glimpse into her own artistic practice.

The workshop is open to both adults and children.

We hope to see you there.


AMY LOCKHART’S short films and artwork have been exhibited extensively throughout North America, and beyond. She has completed residencies at the Quickdraw Animation Society and California Institute of the Arts, and was awarded an animation fellowship with the National Film Board of Canada. Recently her work was show in Bit by Bit at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver and is upcoming in Nog A Dod, an anthology of Canadian psychedelic art published by Conundrum Press.

   
     

 

THE KOOTENAY SCHOOL OF WRITING
in collaboration with the HELEN PITT GALLERY presents:

A poetry reading by Peter O'Leary and Leonard Schwartz
Thursday July 27 at 8:00 pm

Peter O’Leary is the author of two books of poetry—Watchfulness and Depth Theology—and a critical study on Robert Duncan. He has also edited several collections of poetry by Ronald Johnson, including The Shrubberies. He is the longtime editor of the literary magazine LVNG and teaches at the School of the Arts Institute in Chicago.

Leonard Schwartz
is the author of several books of poetry, including Words Before the Articulate, The Tower of Diverse Shores, and most recently Ear and Ethos. He is the host of the radio program Cross Cultural Poetics and teaches at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

   
     

 

Open Slide Night
Friday July 28, 2006, at 7 pm


Artists Presenting:
Mark Dahl
Judy Cheung

Starting in the New Year, the gallery will commence a series of open slide showings on the last Friday of every month, for artists who would like to present their work to the public. We are hoping this regular event will attract a wide range of artists and generate discussion and new connections within the community. Contact the gallery at (604).681.6740 to reserve a time for presenting your work

   
     

 

PETITION (PHASE 1)
A community art project organized by Lenore Herb

Tuesday June 20 to Saturday June 24, 2006
Opening reception: Tuesday June 20, 8:00 pm
Artist Talks, poetry and performances: Friday, June 23, 8:00

PETITION (PHASE 1) is a five-day art project/petition drive aimed at getting members of Vancouver’s various cultural communities to sign their names in support of establishing a bus stop at the Museum of Anthropology and Chan centre. This project endeavours to forge a vital “translink” between cultural institutions, and the neighbourhoods and publics they are meant to serve.

This petition, signed by over 500 local artists, writers and cultural workers, is an experimental piece on art as a vehicle for change. Robert Rauschenberg once said, "artists are really community activists, they change the world through their art". PETITION demonstrates the full visceral accomplishment of doing something for the arts, environment and community, by signing your name.

Lenore Herb has been practising eco-social art for more than 30 years. She works as a writer, video and film artist, curator, producer and environmental advocate. She was president of SPEC (Society Promoting Environmental Conservation) during which time she led successful campaigns to establish blue box recycling in the GVRD. She is currently working on a film of the poet bill bissett's work and "Hat Creek" an eco-social piece dealing with the protection of the Hat Creek area of B.C. More information on Herb’s work can be found at http://www3.telus.net/spirituslocii/

   
     

 

Open Slide Night
Friday May 26, 2006 , at 7 pm


Artists Presenting:
Sonja Ahlers
Natasha McHardy
Heidi Nagtegaal
Lucas Soi

   
     

 

KOOTENAY SCHOOL OF WRITING
in collaboration with The HELEN PITT GALLERY PRESENTS:

David Fujino and Fred Wah
Poetry reading / book launch
Monday May 8th, 8:00 pm

"In an age when poetry is dead, it's interesting that people keep writing it. Sometimes I believe poetry is forever. In air pressure you will find a poetry written for the page and its potential." – David Fujino


The Writers:
David Fujino is a writer, actor and occasional trumpet player from Toronto, who will be launching his new full-length collection, Air Pressure (BookThug, 2006). Born in Greenwood, BC, Fujino has published in Canada, the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, and the World Wide Web. David has also been published in creative poets' presses such as new chief tongue, Psychic Rotunda, and fHole.

Fred Wah is one of the most well-known poets in Canada. He was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 1939, but he grew up in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. He studied music and English literature at the University of British Columbia in the early 1960's where he was one of the founding editors of the poetry newsletter TISH. His book of prose-poems, Waiting For Saskatchewan, received the Governor-General's Award in 1986 and So Far was awarded the Stephanson Award for Poetry in 1992. Diamond Grill, a biofiction about hybridity and growing up in a small-town Chinese-Canadian cafe was published in 1996 and won the Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Fiction. He teaches at the University of Calgary.

 

 

     

 

KOOTENAY SCHOOL OF WRITING
in collaboration with The HELEN PITT GALLERY PRESENTS:

Basil King and Martha King
Poetry reading and slide show
Introduced by George Stanley
Thursday May 4th , 8:00 pm

The Writers:
Basil King born London, England, attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina as a teenager in the 1950s, and completed his apprenticeship as an abstract expressionist painter in San Francisco and New York. He has published numerous books, the latest being Mirage (Marsh Hawk, 2003) and The Twin Towers (Skanky Possum, 2005). A new book of poems, One Hundred and One Beasts: A Painter's Bestiary, is forthcoming from Marsh Hawk Press in spring, 2007. He will be showing a slide show of the site-specific drawing "Rimbaud Praise Day", which was shown on the Bowery Poetry Club Art Wall (New York) in January.

Martha King was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, attended Black Mountain College briefly as a teenager in the 1950s, and married the painter Basil King in San Francisco. She began writing after the birth of their two daughters. During the 1980s, King edited the eight-page zine, Giants Play Well in the Drizzle, which she sent gratis to interested readers. King is a member of the Marsh Hawk Press collective and currently works for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, where she edits a bimonthly magazine. Her latest of many books are Imperfect Fit: Selected Poems (Marsh Hawk, 2004), and North & South, a book of fiction. She is currently at work on a long memoir.

 
     

 

Emily Carr Fundaraiser
Kick Start the Art Silent Auction and Cocktail Party

Friday, April 7, 2006, 7-10pm
Bidding Starts 7:00 pm

Drop by for an eclectic evening of cocktails and bidding on original works ranging from photography, drawing, sculpture and much more from upcoming Emily Carr grads. All monies raised go directly towards funding the Kick Start the Art off-site graduation exhibition. Bids can be placed from 7 - 10 pm. Cash only, please.

Artists Participating:
Raymond Boisjoly, Terry Ray Brown, Mat Bushell, Fabiola Carranza, Michael Drebert, Jessica Eaton, Anne Ehrlich, Adam Gandy, Jonah Gray, Erik F. Hood, Andrew Hutchinson, Dawn Johnston, Cameron Kerr, Trevor Lee Larson, David Lehman, Chloe Lewis, Alex Low, Julia Marshburn, Charlotte Matthews, Tabitha Osler, Laura Piasta, Hellen Reed, Martin Thacker, Annika Rixen, Shiloh Sukkau, Lindsay Sung, Sam Willcocks.

 

   
     

 

KOOTENAY SCHOOL OF WRITING
in collaboration with HELEN PITT GALLERY PRESENTS:

LOLA LEMIRE TOSTEVIN: READING AND TALK

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 8:00 PM
Helen Pitt Gallery, 102-148 Alexander Street.

Tostevin will talk about how site-specific installations reconfigure the space in which they are conceived and installed and on how this can be extended to language, as in her Site-Specific Poems.

ABOUT THE WRITER
Lola Tostevin began publishing in the 1980s. She has published numerous collections of poetry, including Colour of Her Speech 1982), Double Standards (1985) Cartouches (1995), and more recently, Site-Specific Poems (2004). Playing on the many readings of “Site” – visual sight, citations of other textual sources, and the “site” of poetry itself within time and space – Tostevin contemplates the process of writing and the way in which a writer inhabits language as she attempts to understand loss and permanence through her art. She lives in Toronto.

Co-sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

 

 

     

 

Mariah Robertson

Friday, January 6 at 8:30 pm

Join us for our first event of the new year—an overhead projector presentation on the perception of time and space as it relates to the dynamics of self esteem by Mariah Robertson in conjunction with the opening of our upcoming exhibition Help Your Self.

 

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