reviewvancouver: LAB International Art Exhibition

Just one of the interesting works at the Lab Art Show
Photo: Erin Jane

Friday November 28th marked Lab Art Show’s fifth semi-annual showcase in Vancouver, featuring a multidisciplinary exhibition of art including sculpture, dance, video, paintings, and photography. At Studio East, hundreds of observers gathered together to see and experience the artwork of over 100 artists and 450 pieces of art. In the tightly packed space, I moved towards the darker back room to begin my journey.

The first piece that caught my eye and stayed with me even after I left the show was Kerri-Jo Stewart’s Burqa Avenger, a large photograph of a powerful, stern-faced woman in a burqa. The fighting eyes throw quite a visual punch. However, the trouble with viewing some of the larger more beautiful pieces in this show was the lack of well-lit space. The entire back room area was dark with lamps facing towards the viewer, not the artwork. Whether or not this was done purposefully, several people could be seen positioning their cell phone light onto some of the darker-lit artwork in order to properly illuminate them.

Peter Forde at work
Photo: Erin Jane

Moving into the two well-lit front rooms, I spent more time appreciating some of the pieces here - including a few intricate and interactive hand-crank pieces by David Dumbrell, and Peter Forde’s “Virtual Palette” where viewers could manipulate the artist’s paint strokes and colours using a Nintendo^TM controller.

Sir Elephantè the 3rd
Photo: Erin Jane

Vibrant and mesmerizingly detailed pieces by Miky Park were also well featured in the well-lit rooms, as well as James O’Reilly’s Sir Elephantè the 3rd - a beautifully rich portrait of a diamond-eyed elephant. I also had the pleasure of meeting the talented sculptor Rudolf Sokolovski, whose beautifully sculpted pieces explore the strength and power of the human body.

One great thing I appreciated about this particular showcase was that artists from all over the world were featured: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia, Ukraine, Korea, just to name a few. To me this offered a rich diversity of perspectives and talents, which elevated this exhibition from just another local gallery showcase to a larger tapestry of conception.