Discover the power of art on your next trip to Vancouver with a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery, one of North America’s most exciting and innovative visual arts institutions. Four Iconic works by renowned Canadian Modernist painter Emily Carr are on view as well as ground-breaking exhibitions and selections from the permanent collection. Open 7 days a week, a visit to the Gallery is an opportunity to meditate on more than a century’s worth of Canadian and international art, from historical masters to contemporary visionaries.

Enhance your experience by attending one of the Gallery’s engaging special events, educational tours or programs designed for families, youth and art enthusiasts of all ages. Weekly Family Programs are featured every Sunday—free for children 12 and under—your kids will gain a unique appreciation for the arts with activities that bring the exhibitions to life.

Spend time in the Gallery Store; a locals’ favorite for one-of-a kind-gifts or refuel in the Gallery Bistro; an eatery with a reputation for great food and an outdoor patio that is one of Vancouver’s hidden gems.

History, the Permanent Exhibitions and Emily Carr

The Vancouver Art Gallery had been telling stories through art for nearly 90 years. It made its debut in 1931 with a collection of British historical paintings and only seven works by Canadian artists. Those humble beginnings became the foundation for a collection of more than 12,000 pieces including significant works by Indigenous artists as well as collections in the recently established Asian Institute for Art. The gallery has a rich repository of works by Vancouverites such as Jeff Wall, Stan Douglas, Rodney Graham, Roy Arden, Ian Wallace and others as well as historical landscapes, 17th-century Dutch paintings and one of North America’s most important photographic collections by icons such as Ansel Adams, Cindy Sherman and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

The Vancouver Art Gallery has an impressive record of exhibitions by historical, international masters such as Monet and Picasso as well as presentations of important works by Emily Carr and other respected British Columbian, Canadian and Indigenous artists. Historical projects are often exhibited concurrently with contemporary art presentations, connecting past and present perspectives. We recommend you check the Gallery website for current exhibition information.

CURRENT AND UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS

Victor Vasarely: Sharing Forms – June 27 to October 18, 2020

Organized by the Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery, this vibrant exhibition offers a selected survey of the art of Victor Vasarely, internationally renowned for his paintings, screenprints, sculptures, graphic design and architectural integrations. Recognized as the founder of the Op Art movement, Vasarely sought to bring harmony and happiness to the broadest possible audience through the widespread production and distribution of art and applied design.

VICTOR VASARELY | OCTOBER 17, 2020 – APRIL 5, 2021

The utopian nature of Vasarely’s vision can be found in his desire to take art beyond the gallery, and to make it accessible to people in their homes as well as in the public domain. Merging artworks and commercially printed multiples, his abstract language is featured not only in his paintings, sculptures and architectural integrations but also reproduced on prints, posters, dishware and textiles. Vasarely’s interest in the democratization of art for all, his use of mass production and his embracing of interdisciplinarity continue to resonate with artistic practices today.

UNCOMMON LANGUAGE | OCTOBER 17, 2020 – APRIL 5, 2021

Within European and North American art history, expressions of abstract art—from the early to the mid-20th century—have often been linked to a utopian desire for a universal aesthetic language. Uncommon Language responds to the Eurocentric promise—and presumption—of a single overarching artistic language, through the presentation of artworks that evoke, embrace, complicate and counter the idea of a common vernacular. Loosely grouped into interconnected thematic sections, the works in Uncommon Language employ a range of aesthetic idioms that draw from traditions of abstraction, spirituality and literature, as well as ideas around selfhood and the body.

Featured artists include Josef Albers, Sonny Assu, Vija Celmins, Allyson Clay, Andrew Dadson, Beau Dick, General Idea, Jean Goguen, Betty Goodwin, Angela Grauerholz, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Allison Hrabluik, Robert Indiana, Karin Jones, Mary Kelly, Ann Kipling, Zoe Kreye, Lui Shou Kwan, Ken Lum, Agnes Martin, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, Françoise Sullivan, Takao Tanabe, Cy Twombly, Rachel Whiteread, Joyce Wieland, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun and Zhu Jinshi.

First Image Credit: Emily Carr, Deep Forest, c. 1931, oil on canvas, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Emily Carr Trust, Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery