Large-scale projections to light up the Vancouver Art Gallery building during Façade Festival

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Rendering by Go2 Productions of a monumental projection to be presented by Vancouver-based artist Shawn Hunt on the Georgia Street façade of the Vancouver Art Gallery as part of Façade Festival 2017.

When: September 4 – 10, 2017, 7:30 p.m.–12:00 a.m. each evening

Where: Georgia Street side of the Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street

The Vancouver Art Gallery is pleased to partner with the Burrard Arts Foundation for the third annual Façade Festival 2017, a large-scale and immersive projection mapping experience set to light up the Georgia Street exterior of the Gallery with stunning works from ten contemporary British Columbia-based artists from September 4 to 10.

Façade Festival 2017 is a projection-mapping and outdoor architectural intervention that transforms the Georgia Street façade of the Vancouver Art Gallery with the work of emerging and established contemporary artists from British Columbia. These monumental projections respond to the urban environment with vibrant creativity and provide viewers with a unique experience of visual art within the public realm.

Organized by the Burrard Arts Foundation, five members of the local arts community made up the selection committee (Kate Bellringer, Christian Chan, Rachel Lafo, Chris Shier and Stephanie Rebick), collectively determining the ten artists included in this year’s festival.

This year’s featured artists include Diyan Achjadi, Fiona Ackerman, Scott Billings, Annie Briard, Shawn Hunt, James Nizam, Luke Ramsey, Evann Siebens, Ben Skinner and Paul Wong. Two artists will present their newly-commissioned work nightly, culminating in an Encore and Grand Finale showcase of all artists’ work on Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10, respectively. In addition, a special presentation by Go2 Productions will be featured during the Grand Finale evening on Sunday, September 10th.

A presentation of art, creativity and technical innovation, the Façade Festival 2017 explores the ubiquity of digital forms in modern life and contemplates the role that new technologies play in contemporary art while engaging the public in a grand intervention in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

A Façade Festival artist talk, Behind the Lights: the Making of Façade Festival, will be hosted by the Vancouver Art Gallery on Saturday, September 9 at 3:00 p.m.

The talk, led by several of this year’s artists, will feature a series of short visual presentations, providing background on the ideas and processes behind their projections, as well as how these new works fit within the artists’ larger practices.

Façade Festival 2017 is organized by the Burrard Arts Foundation in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery, with technical support from Go2 Productions.

Schedule and Participating Artists

When: September 4 – 10, 2017, 7:30 p.m.–12:00 a.m. each evening

Where: Georgia Street side of the Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street

Monday, September 4th: Shawn Hunt & Evann Siebens

Tuesday, September 5th: Diyan Achjadi & James Nizam

Wednesday, September 6th: Scott Billings & Luke Ramsey

Thursday, September 7th: Fiona Ackerman & Ben Skinner

Friday, September 8th: Annie Briard & Paul Wong

Saturday, September 9th: Encore of all artists’ works

Sunday, September 10th: Projection mapping grand finale by Go2 Productions followed by an encore of all artists’ works

About the Artists

Diyan Achjadi

Diyan Achjadi’s practice examines historical prints and surface ornamentation, tracing narratives of cross-cultural imaginings, influences and contaminations, retranslating and reinterpreting them through drawing, printmaking and animation. Born in Jakarta, she is now based in Vancouver where she is an Associate Professor at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Fiona Ackerman

Originally from Montreal, Fiona Ackerman is a painter living and working in Vancouver. Her painting practice has been explorative in style, a balance between loose, expressionist painting and precise, meticulous editing and composing.

Scott Billings

Scott Billings is a visual artist, engineer and educator based in Vancouver. His sculptures and video installations have been described as existing somewhere between cinema and automata. Centering on issues of animality, mobility and spectatorship, his practice examines the mimetic relationship between the physicality of the apparatus and the cinematic language of movement it articulates.

Annie Briard

Annie Briard’s practice challenges visual perception through video, photography and installation. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University, and a Master's from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she currently teaches.

Shawn Hunt

Shawn Hunt is a Heiltsuk artist currently based in Vancouver. Hunt’s work takes on a complexity of influence from both his training in traditional design, wood and jewelry carving and his engagement with contemporary questions of subversion, preconception and fluid meanings.

Ben Skinner

Ben Skinner grew up in Petrolia, a small oil town in Southern Ontario. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Fine Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in 2000, and with a Master of Fine Arts in Art & Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003. Text is a reoccurring element in many of his works that can range from snowballs in a chain-link fence to neon to candy sprinkles.

James Nizam

James Nizam is a visual artist based in New Westminster, British Columbia. His work is held in numerous public and private collections and is represented by Birch Contemporary (Toronto), Gallery Jones (Vancouver) and REITER Galleries (Berlin/Leipzig).

Luke Ramsey

Luke Ramsey co-founded the Islands Fold residency, exhibits internationally and works in public art and freelance illustration. His client list includes The New York Times, The Drake Hotel, Patagonia, The BC Children’s Hospital and more.

Evann Siebens

Evann Siebens makes media with movement. She has exhibited her projects at galleries such as Eyebeam (New York) and Centre Pompidou (Paris), while her documentaries have been screened at MOMA and on PBS. She filmed dancers in New York for over fifteen years and is now based in Vancouver.

Paul Wong

Paul Wong is a media-maestro making art for site-specific spaces and screens of all sizes. He is an award-winning artist and curator who is known for pioneering early visual and media art in Canada, founding several artist-run groups, leading public arts policy, and organizing events, festivals, conferences and public interventions since the 1970s. With a career spanning four decades, he has been an instrumental proponent for contemporary art.

For more information, please visit: www.facadefest.com

Source: Vancouver Art Gallery