Wednesday September 12th, 2018 ART SEEN: How Patricia Piccinini’s transgenic ‘homeless’ creatures came to Vancouver Patricia Piccinini's hyperrealistic animal-human sculptures have found temporary resting space in rooms on the second floor of the Patricia Hotel. The art exhibition is curated by Marcello Dantas from the Vancouver Biennale. Learn more Tuesday September 11th, 2018 Patricia Piccinini’s creepy and curiously lifelike sculptures make themselves at home in Vancouver Intriguingly creepy, faintly terrifying, and freakishly lifelike, Patricia Piccinini’s surrealist works have landed in Vancouver—and trust us: they must be seen to be believed. Presented by the Vancouver Biennale as part of its 2018–2020 programming, the celebrated Australian artist’s human-animal sculptures are part of an exhibit entitled Curious Imaginings at the Downtown Eastside’s Patricia Hotel that runs from Friday (September 14) to December 15. There, visitors may explore 18 of the 105-year-old inn’s rooms, the majority of which have become home to at least one of Piccinini’s wild, life-size figures—each crafted to provoke a range of emotions from the viewer while raising questions about emerging biotechnology and ethics in genetic engineering. Learn more Tuesday August 14th, 2018 Video by filmmaker Josephine Anderson: This monster-sized anvil is like a giant violin conch shell bringing you the sounds of the ocean Huge works of art are standard fare at the Vancouver Biennale — the exhibition regularly includes large-scale sculpture that confronts the audience in big ways. But this year, the giant anvil that's been dropped in its midst by artist Maskull Lasserre (who you may have bumped into beforeat CBC Arts) might seem a little incongruous with its surroundings...until you get closer. In this video by filmmaker Josephine Anderson, you'll meet Lasserre and his new work, Acoustic Anvil: A Small Weight to Forge the Sea, as he explains the thought process that went into its creation. Learn more Monday August 13th, 2018 How a chain-link mosque at the Vancouver Biennale became a community hub Saudi artist Ajlan Gharem's installation stands as an example of cultural exchange as diplomatic tensions break out between Canada and Saudi Arabia. Learn more Tuesday July 24th, 2018 大溫雙年展 掀議題 在我的國家,這是一項被禁止擺設的 藝術作品。藝術家 Ajlan Gharem 說,這項公共藝術 在英國倫敦、美國三藩市等地展出,獲得 許多好評,只有在沙特阿拉伯,擺放了一 天時間就撤離,就怕被攻擊報復!文/攝影:葉曉蓉 Learn more Friday July 20th, 2018 Alexander Square IS AWESOME: That’s why there’s a giant anvil in Leg-in-Boot Square Leg-in-Boot Square along the seawall in False Creek has an industrial history of forges and boat building. A new public art sculpture has been installed in honour of that past for the Vancouver Biennale. Calgary-born artist Maskull Lasserre’s Acoustic Anvil: A Small Weight to Forge the Sea references the massive tapered hulls of floating ships mirroring naval mooring bollards and hinting at a reddened upturned boot. Learn more Thursday July 19th, 2018 Artist uncovers False Creek’s lost industrial history with Acoustic Anvil sculpture for Vancouver Biennale In a city that is forever turning over the glassy, high-rise buildings, the raw and rugged tools of the past are a stark reminder that urbanization is swift and constant. Tomorrow morning (July 19), the Vancouver Biennale (2018-2019) will install Squamish-based artist Maskull Laserre's sculpture Acoustic Anvil: A Small Weight to Forge the Sea in the Leg-In-Boot Square along Vancouver's False Creek seawall. Learn more Wednesday July 18th, 2018 Seven things to do in the Lower Mainland from July 20 to 26 The 2018-2020 Vancouver Biennale, titled re-IMAGE-n (reimagine), hosts a load of awesome programs ranging from Islamic art workshops to the CineFest LIVE film program. But what most of the public knows the event for are the large scale public artworks that are meant to inspire and introduce dialogue. Chilean-Canadian artist Alfredo Jaar’s digital sculpture titled A Logo for America reimagines a progressive social framework in place of what we presently experience. Learn more Tuesday July 17th, 2018 Ajlan Gharem gains global recognition for his thought-provoking work DENVER: Places of worship fill many roles in society — and an art installation in the shape of a mosque can invoke polarizing reactions in different lands, as Ajlan Gharem has discovered. On June 19, the Saudi Arabian artist traveled to Canada to present his life-sized conceptual piece “Paradise Has Many Gates” at the Vancouver Biennale. An interactive installation which renders the unmistakable outline of a mosque in a skeleton cage of cold steel, the work will stand at the city’s Vanier Park — a high-profile public space also home to many museums and music festivals — for two years, during which it will host workshops, talks and performances. Learn more Thursday July 12th, 2018 5 things you need to know about Alfredo Jaar’s A Logo for America at the Vancouver Biennale Look up, way up, at Robson and Granville Streets and you’ll see a digital billboard that doesn’t quite fit in with the logos and brand names that surround it. In the first frame of the animated installation, the words “This Is Not America” are superimposed over a map of the United States. In the next frame, the text “This is Not America’s Flag” runs over the stars and stripes; and then, in the last image, the single word “AMERICA” finds its “R” replaced by an image of the North and South American continents joined together. Learn more