Why Am I Afraid To Love hits the streets of Vancouver

Street posters, up until end of February
Artist’s talk and Valentine’s Day reception, Saturday February 13, 7pm
Installation in UNIT/PITT Reading Room until February 27

If you’re seeing some intriguing messages on your local poster kiosk, there’s an explanation. Monique Levesque’s work Why Am I Afraid To Love? is now available for viewing all around Vancouver, at random times and places, as part of the rough-and-tumble rotation of posters that season our urban landscape.

The project, curated by independent curator and writer Brynn McNab, opens the artist’s personal journals and texts to the public, producing a bracing collision of intimacy and anonymity.

Why Am I Afraid To Love? is also on view in the reading room of UNIT/PITT Projects, where the artist and curator will host a Valentine’s Day party and artist’s talk on Saturday, February 13 at 7pm; the Pitt will also publish a book version of Why Am I Afraid To Love?, available at the event.

Monique Levesque was raised in the Canadian prairies by two people whose love story has proved impossible to live up to, or replicate. In 2011 Levesque acquired a BFA from Emily Carr University. Working in alignment with the history of performance in various media, she has since dedicated her work to the pursuit of the romantic comedy.

Brynn McNab graduated with a BFA in Critical and Cultural Studies from Emily Carr University by way of Film Production from NSCAD University. Since then, her work has included writing, curating and editing, including the relaunch of ISSUE magazine in 2014. She is currently interested in an expanded field of writing, which incorporates casual correspondence and co-production.