Calender and Archives

ON NOW:

BILOCATION

Curators:

Lisa Giroday
Sam Philips
Mike Swaney
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Lisa Giroday [proprietor of the L.E.S. Gallery] came up with the idea of manipulating the German word doppelgänger to express the segregation and isolation that the Vancouver cultural scene can manifest. We proceeded to relate our favorite local artists with likeminded international artists. Lisa Giroday, Mike Swaney and I [the curators of the Bilocation Series] want to illustrate that through the connection of analogous international artists, what is happening in Vancouver is significant and relative to the global arts scene. Given the sinister implications of the term "doppelganger", we found the term bilocation to be a more appropriate word for our concept.
Bilocation is a less ominous term, slightly different in nature but similar to the notion of the 'doppelganger'; it is the ostensibly supernatural act of appearing or being in two or more locations simultaneously. One of our curatorial objectives is to unpack the notion of 'doppelganger', as we realize the negative connotations encompassing the folklore of the term and the inherent irony of us, 1. Attempting the task of pairing artistic doubles, and 2. Initiating communication between 'doppelgangers'—it is commonly considered unwise to communicate with a doppelganger, and to see one's own is a bad omen. Our subversion and re-contextualization of these meanings is playful, inspiring the idea of a global network of idiosyncratic 'doubles'. Instead of 'doppelganger' or 'bilocation' evoking inauspicious suppositions, we explore the concept as a catalyst with the intent to expand a network of artists and establish, as implied earlier, a more developed sense of global community.

The Bilocation Series is a process of further investigating identity for all individuals and places concerned. A central result of our artist pairing in this series is that it acts as a symposium, as a point of connection, as a cultural exchange, most simply and essentially thriving from both disparate elements and parallel ones.
If bilocation is seen in some instances as being related to the psyche, we wish to utilize the L.E.S. Gallery's location as a theoretical form of consciousness for these 'doubles'.
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The Bilocation Series consists of three separate themes exhibited consecutively over six weeks. We have paired, within each theme, one international artist and one local artist.

The series has been categorized as follows:

Part I: MIXED MEDIA

Joseph Hart, Mark Delong

April 12 – 28

Part II: DRAWING

Manuel Olias, James Whitman

May 3 – 17

Part III: INSTALLATION

Gregory & Cyril Chapusiat, Chad Oakenfold

May 24 – June 14
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Artist Links:

Joseph Hart (New York)
www.jhartillustration.com

Mark Delong (Vancouver, Canada)
www.bambi.org.UK

Manuel Olias (Spain)
http://dibujosaciegas.tk/

James Whitman (Vancouver, Canada)
www.lionspile.ca

Chapusiat brothers (Switzerland)
www.mentary.com/chapuisat

Chad Oakenfold (Vancouver, Canada)
www.oakenfold.ca

Contact:
Lisa Giroday
lisa@lesgallery.ca

Mike Swaney
humancinco@gmail.com

Sam Philips
samantha.philips@gmail.com

The L.E.S. Gallery is pleased to announce the celebration of its first Annual Art Auction, held with the intent to further facilitate programming at the gallery, and to further support the artists whose work it encourages.

Please join us for an evening of interaction and an opportunity to acquire work
by the following artists:
Andrew Jeffery Wright
Jason Mclean
Owen Plummer
Joey Haley
Mugi Takei
Mark DeLong
Kayla Guthrie
Matthew Brown
James Whitman
Jaret Penner
Mike Swaney
Erin Perry
Igor Santizo
Steve Calvert
Shane Ehamn
Tyler Lepore
Simon Redekop
Jessica Eaton
Kevin Hooyman
Shane Baron
Mathew Robertson
Gregory Chapuisat
The silent auction will begin on Friday, March 28th, 7-11pm and Saturday March 29th 12-5pm.

L.E.S. Gallery
1879 Powell St.
Vancouver, BC
www.lesgallery.ca
Contact: Lisa Giroday, Curator
lisa@lesgallery.ca

Really Good Mine
By The Lions
Opens Saturday March 1 - 22

Arrested Development
By Kayla Guthrie
Opens Saturday February 2nd, 7pm through February 23rd
LES Gallery
1879 Powell Street

Gallery hours: Thursday, Friday 1-6, Saturday 12-5
contact: lisa@lesgallery.ca
www.lesgallery.ca

Statement: These works were made in Philadelphia and Vancouver, half a year after I finished art school. They integrate still life settings, arbitrarily shaped objects, and surfaces that look like they belong in home interiors. Blown-up Xeroxed images of charcoal studies intersect rough modeled shapes. The sculptures are inspired by contemporary “abstract sculpture”, often seen in craft exhibitions and anonymous public art, ersatz permutations of the modernist sculpture of Henry Moore or Constantin Brancusi. I’m attracted to the former viability, in the early 20th century, of simplistic forms as timeless metaphysical signifiers, but I’m equally interested in pop culture’s uptake of this iconography as shorthand for a mysterious, indecipherable expressionism: the symbolic, comic-book representation of artwork as a random shape on a plinth. “Arrested Development” is a series of paintings and sculptures that embraces these emblematic “forms of art” as transmitters for personal idiosyncrasies.

Bio: Kayla Guthrie models her sculpture, installation, and painting in bright, gooey textures that often resemble overgrown hobby art projects. This work is frequently accompanied by self-published zines of experimental writing. For her most recent solo exhibit, Personalities, at Blim, she created a 20-foot-high “3D mural” of papier-mache forms and paint on one wall as a theatrical backdrop for the recital of a collection of scripts, poems, and vignettes which took place at the show’s opening. Having graduated from Emily Carr Institute’s BFA program last May, Guthrie has been involved for the past five years as a singer in a variety of local noise music acts as well working as a writer at Only magazine. She has exhibited alone and in group shows at Blanket, Dadabase, The Helen Pitt Gallery, and Access.

Featured Products at the LESS: Nieves books, various publications from Japan, LA, EU, Kevin Hooyman zines from NYC, Gailan Ngan ceramics Vancouver, dolls from Spain and more. Expect new arrivals very shortly.