ONE YEAR ON | A MESSAGE FROM EVA RESPINI
Ron Terada, Entering City of Vancouver, 2002, steel, vinyl, wood, paint, light fixture, light bulb, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Gift of Phil Lind, VAG 2014.45.1
Just over a year ago, I joined the Vancouver Art Gallery as Deputy Director & Director of Curatorial Programs. Since my arrival, I have made it my mission to learn about the city through its art community.
Over 260 working days, I met with 44 artists; 45 curators, art historians and gallerists; and 41 donors and community leaders. Additionally, I have the pleasure of getting to know and working alongside more than 150 dedicated and passionate new colleagues. This past year, I also traveled across Canada to meet new colleagues and artists and still have so much of the country to discover.
Through coffees, meetings and public speaking engagements at the Gallery, I have shared my curatorial vision for the Gallery’s current building and beyond with you, our dedicated members, and the broader Vancouver arts community.
From Eva Respini’s Instagram: Visits with artists Parviz Tanavoli, Jin-me Yoon and Shuvinai Ashoona and exploring Vancouver’s Chinatown with artist Paul Wong, Photos: Courtesy of Eva Respini
In June, my first curatorial projects with the Vancouver Art Gallery opened to the public. To coincide with the 15th anniversary of the Gallery’s Offsite public art program, I invited renowned New York–based artist Hank Willis Thomas to present three major polished stainless-steel sculptures together for the first time. These large-scale works featured at Offsite are installed adjacent to the public route of protests and political marches in the city. At a moment when the roles and relevance of public monuments are being debated, Thomas is creating new monuments for our time.
I also launched the new curatorial initiative 1:1 Artists Select, wherein I invited Vancouver–based artists to select one work from the Gallery’s collection to be displayed in dialogue with their own work, resulting in a dynamic series of short, pop-up projects in the Gallery’s Forecourt. The project aims to put audiences and artists at the forefront of the Gallery experience by celebrating the Gallery’s collection and ensuring that the understanding and experience of art starts as soon as you enter our doors into the galleries.
The series opened with one of Vancouver’s most exciting contemporary artists, Stan Douglas, who selected a work by Lawren Harris to be displayed in dialogue with a work of his own. Right now, through September 8, visitors can enjoy work by Russna Kaur alongside a work she selected by Kapwani Kiwanga. We will continue to spotlight both well-known and emerging artists through 2024 and 2025, including Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Liz Magor, Jin-me Yoon, Douglas Coupland and Paul Wong.
(Left) Installation view of Offsite: Hank Willis Thomas, site-specific installation at Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite from June 7, 2024 to April 27, 2025, Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery; (Right) Installation view of 1:1 Artists Select: Russna Kaur | Kapwani Kiwanga, exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery from July 31 to September 8, 2024
Activating the Gallery’s spaces—both indoor and outdoor—through participation, contemporary discussion and new types of art experiences is central to my curatorial vision. This winter, I am thrilled to bring a project I initiated at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston to Vancouver. Opening November 3, Firelei Báez is the first North American survey dedicated to the artist’s richly layered work. This is the exhibition’s only stop on the West Coast and Firelei Báez’s first major exhibition in Canada. I can’t wait to share her work with audiences in Vancouver.
Thank you for the warm welcome—and here’s to an ambitious, inspiring year of art ahead!
Eva Respini
Deputy Director & Director of Curatorial Programs