Vancouver Art Gallery: WACK!! I Jeff Walls I Rapture & Ruin I Kai Althoff

Tuesday was Memorial Day in Canada and after a rich breakfast at Café Zen and walking in the rain, we decided to spend the rest of the day in the Vancouver Art Gallery. Alternatively, we could have participated in the celebrations of the Memorial Day, but most participants were wearing uniforms and I didn't bring my grandfather's POW coat. Well, he always has been a big fan of the US Army who saved his live. So, we got into Vancouver Art Gallery, where the collector made me completely dizzy by flattering how cool my Swiss driving licence was. Well, I doubt that, but anyway...

The first two floors showed WACK!, an exhibition on feminism and arts in the 70s, including pieces of art from painting, installations and performances. Some cool stuff, e.g., many artists playing with her identity like Lynn Hershman, who had constructed the fictional persona of Roberta ("Roberta's Construction") and lived the life of Roberta. After some copycats had created their own Robertas, various Robertas inhabited the US.















On the third floor, some pieces of landscape visualization, e.g., by Vancouver artists Emily Carr, were exhibited. One room showed the mountain as a symbol (see the photo on the left), another the topic of the ruin in landscape art. Which can be seen in the German Bad Muskau Park as well, by the way.

Also on the third floor. some of Jeff Wall's lightboxes were shown. If you're into photography, you really should have a look at his website!














Photo: Jeff Walls

On the last floor, you could smell the new carpet, the artist - or just a crazy hippie in self-made woven clothes - drew attention, and vitrines lured the uncautious visitor. My favourite artist Kai Althoff from Düsseldorf, ok, Cologne..., displayed the dark memories of childhood, rust dripping from the edges of excotic puppets, and his latest working room atelier installation from Berlin. If you have any chance to see him, go!

In summary, I didn't see any coherence in the different exhibitions, but each one was interesting or even inspiring. See you again soon - the next exhibition will be about arts and computer games!