Sell Out features a fun and twisted collection of new and old works by the mysterious Vancouver street artist, iHeart. As a work sells, a new piece will replace it. Leaving you wondering what will be next. It’s the perfect gift for the street art lover in your life!

Click here to see photos from the show on Flickr >

i♥️ was born somewhere in western Canada, sometime in the late ’80s. Given the nature of what he does, iHeart remains anonymous. By appropriating elements of digital culture the artist blurs the boundaries of life on- and offline. iHeart’s solo exhibition, #asignofthetimes, was an unsanctioned gallery installed under the Granville Street Bridge in the summer of 2015. The show explored some dark twists on society’s obsession with social media. Despite the City of Vancouver’s efforts to curb iHeart’s nefarious behaviour the artist continues to live and work in Vancouver.

In Nomi Chi’s first solo exhibition, Shed yr skin features a new collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures primarily depicting chimeric, sometimes monsterous figures struggling with themselves or otherwise interacting with each other as well as other creatures inhabiting fictitious landscapes. Themes of transformation, desire, and death, and sex are manipulated and explored with an air of humour, as images hint at a broader narrative beyond the picture frame. In addition, Shed yr skin marks a considered departure from Chi’s work previous to their BFA completion: with a new focus on feminist concerns, Chi intends to toy with the idea of female figuration within nature, specifically in relation to the history of visual arts and illustration.

Click here to see photos from the show in our Flickr album >

Nomi Chi is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose primary practice engages with the visual lexicon of illustration and tattoo. Images within Chi’s painting and drawing practice seek a heightened sense of emotive drama, often utilizing animal and human figures, in varying degrees of fictitious construction, as stand-ins for personal experiences and observations on human nature. With seven years of professional tattoo experience, they have achieved a well-established international tattoo career. Nomi Chi graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2015 with a BFA in illustration. They have participated in gallery exhibitions throughout Canada, the US and parts of Europe.

Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School is what happens when a simple question is asked: why can’t figure drawing be sexy? Part art class, part cabaret, join us for 3 hours of drawing and decadence! drsketchyvancouver.com for more info. Join the Dr Sketchy’s Facebook page to keep up to date and see pics >

Our annual dirty and immature nude art show Boobies + Wieners returns for a fourth year! “Four Play” features Serena Bon-Binky, Gwen D’arcy, Vince Hemingson, Erica Lapadat-Janzen, Gordana Ristic, Aleshia St Cyr, Pandora Young and Nikki Pecasso. Plus, submissions from Aimee Young, Alan Jacques, Alex Stewart, Amelia Smart, Anita Rudakov, Becca Williams, Ben Everyman, Brenna Mackinder, Bret Taylor, Bronwyn Schuster, Cayley Carlson, Chris Bentzen, Christina Wightman, Corinne Leroux, Daniel Audet, Daniel Duncan, Divya Nanray, ER Gott, Flavia, Jean-Paul Langlois, Jennifer Chernecki, Jesse Davidge, Jessica Blaquiere, Jillian Evin, Jim Hoehnle, Jon Gant , Katy Springer, Kay Slater, Kelly Baker, Kimberley Howie, Kirsten Hatfield, Lara Hjorthoy, Maddy Gill, Mandy Lau, Marina LeClair, Mark Konytowski, Meaghan Iverson, Nigel Elliot, Oliver Harley Munsie, Sara Molcan, Sara Wilson, Sean Moxley, Shampoo, Shary Contrary, Sherri Hodder, Sofia Hellstadius, Stéphanie Gagné, Susanna Leu, Tayt Modern, Tim Bauer, Violet Patrich & Siena Locher-Lo, and Zox Svetorovich.

Click here to view the photo album on Flickr >

In addition to the main show, we’re hosting mini-exhibit Art or Bust. Curated by artist Jenn Brisson, breast casts of nine breast cancer survivors are turned into works of art for a silent auction. 100% of funds raised go to Rethink Breast Cancer. Artists: Diego Pacheco, Jenn Brisson, Morgane Billault, Kinsey Deakin, Mia Dungeon, Evie Katevatis, J Lord-Purcell, Ivan Louey, and Bronwyn Schuster.

Flyer art by Nikki Pecasso

Featuring Flavia, Christel Chan, Jane Q Cheng, Minjoo Kim, Chelsea O’Byrne and Rachel Wada, Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down takes an inquisitive look at how nostalgia serves as a point of reference for both identity and art. The six local artists explore how memory provides an ongoing context for all of our thoughts and ideas, despite paradoxically being an unreliable source of information. Drawing from their own individual memories, they aim to find vestiges of the past hiding in the darkest corners of the present.

Click here to see photos from the show on Flickr >

Thanks to the Fox Cabaret for hosting our afterparty.

Ever since Flavia could hold a pen, she’s been drawing rainbows, hearts, and cats with spikes. Her kindergarten teacher suggested she attend Emily Carr University of Art & Design. And that’s just what she did. In 2015, Flavia graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a major in illustration. Her childhood included a large amount of time vegetating with a gazillion picture books (which were stored in an unplugged fridge) and her beloved television set. The TV and pictures from the pages of children’s book fueled her imagination and continue to inspire her today.

Jane Q Cheng is a Vancouver-based artist. Her interests focus on creating dialogue between illustration and contemporary art practices and finding spaces where the traditional and experimental overlap. Through various topics, she takes advantage of what she sees as illustration’s central yet peripheral standing in contemporary art discourse.

Christel Chan is an illustrator and designer with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (Illustration concentration) from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, Canada. She spent most of her life in Hong Kong but moved to Vancouver to pursue her interest in art and design. In her paintings, she enjoys creating fantastical worlds by mixing the ordinary and the magical.

Rachel Wada is an interdisciplinary illustrator currently based in Vancouver, BC. She is a recent graduate of Emily Carr University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program with a focus in illustration. Her artistic practice involves intricate illustrations executed in a variety of mediums from watercolor, ink, graphite and gouache. She also utilizes digital media and silkscreen printing to produce her 2D illustrations. Her inspirations include traditional Chinese painting, ukiyo-e painting, tattoos and editorial illustration. Rachel has participated in a handful of art exhibitions around Vancouver, and her piece has recently been accepted in the Society of Illustrators: Student Scholarship Competition, where her piece was displayed in the student exhibition in New York.

Minjoo Kim is an illustrator based both in Seoul and Vancouver. In her illustrations, she captures the moments and the feelings that pass us by unnoticed. She believes that the most mundane moments can be the happiest moments in life, once stopped and looked closely into. She wishes to create illustrations and stories that enable the viewers to enjoy that moment and to help them revisit and cherish their own stories that they have missed in their life.

The myth of the tattooed woman is of her wildness and unpredictable nature. The idea that “innocent” untattooed woman are the “better” choice for intimate partners… it’s bullshit of course. Relationships are built out of something deeper than what’s just below the skin. Perhaps you’ve missed out on someone amazing by not looking deeper. These are portraits of all the beautiful, tattooed women that “got away.” The One That Got Away features watercolour works of tattooed female subjects from Gwen D’arcy and Aaron White. This show also hosted a live flash tattoo event from Studio Nest on Saturday July 9.

Click here to see photos from the show on Flickr >

Gwen D’arcy is a self taught Canadian artist Who grew up in Scarborough, Ontario. Her past shows include the “31 and Under” artists showcase at Gallery 223 in Nanaimo, BC in 2012 and a limited showcase at Make Studios also in Nanaimo, BC (2013). After a long break from the gallery scene Gwen is making a strong come back with vibrant surrealistic images of tattooed women bound to make you fall in love. When she’s not drawing or painting Gwen is the Brand Cordinator for a fast scaling company, mother to two beautiful children and a proud dog owner. Gwen now lives in Vancouver.

Aaron White graduated from Sheridan’s Classical Animation Program in 2004. He spent a few years working on Saturday morning cartoons before moving on to the video game industry. Since 2007, he has been a concept artist and FX animator for Nexon, Acronym Games, and Roadhouse doing work for Disney, Fox, Activision, Tecmo and Capcom. Happily settled in Vancouver with two carts, a glowing bicycle and as much art as he can fit into the week. His personal work focuses on painted portraiture of alternative and burlesque.

Antisocial Media is a collection of works by i♥️, eafo and The Grominator made in the wake of several cliché personal experiences involving love, addiction, and stupidity. They both mourn and rejoice in this unsolicited education. The variety of mediums and styles marks a major creative transition, but each artwork retains a sense of self-reflection and an affinity for illustration. Click here to see photos on Flickr >

i♥️ was born somewhere in western Canada, sometime in the late ’80s. Given the nature of what he does, iHeart remains anonymous. By appropriating elements of digital culture the artist blurs the boundaries of life on- and offline. iHeart’s solo exhibition, #asignofthetimes, was an unsanctioned gallery installed under the Granville Street Bridge in the summer of 2015. The show explored some dark twists on society’s obsession with social media. Despite the City of Vancouver’s efforts to curb iHeart’s nefarious behaviour the artist continues to live and work in Vancouver.

Earthfolk, aka eafo, is a Calgarian boy who makes things. He mostly draws and writes things on walls and canvas and paper and stuff. He is not really sure why he does this, but there is a lot of happiness, sadness, and uncertainty involved. He writes ambiguous love letters and sends them to strangers. He likes drawing iconic things, especially hands and the face of a man. The man is imaginary and is kind of a weirdo, but is a pretty nice guy.

The Grominator, a Canadian graffiti artist, is widely recognized for his psychedelic monsters and graffiti on trains throughout Canada and the United States. He began painting trains in 2008 in his hometown of Calgary AB, and initially creating art in 2006. Since then he has traveled throughout Canada and the United States and created a strong following in North America and worldwide. He is consistently creating and sharing new forms of artwork ranging from canvas’, model trains, and toys to collaborations with clothing companies and long boarding companies. His work has been in skate shops, glass shops, galleries and murals throughout Canada and the United States. He continues to hit every town and city he visits, always making a undeniable presence.

To celebrate the 400th episode of local comedy podcast Stop Podcasting Yourself, we’re hosting an art show dedicated to Canadian comedians! Art inspired by Canadian comedians and art made by Canadian comedians in honour of Graham Clark and Dave Shumka’s beloved podcast. Artists include: MW Bowen, Andrea Hooge, Erin Gibbs, Exploding Haggis, Alicia Tobin, Emmett Hall, Jacob Samuel, Brent Constantine, Jesse Daniel, Nima Gholamipour, Heather Szilagyi, Cameron MacLeod, Adam Pateman, Aaron Read, with beard paintings from Graham Clark! Oh, and a guerrilla piece by Sean Devlin. See photos on Flickr >

Interview with Vancouver artist Jeremiah Birnbaum
MUSIC: “Ring The Bell (Instrumental)” by YACHT
INTERVIEW, VIDEO & EDIT: Chris Bentzen

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Interview with Vancouver artist Jeff Wilson
MUSIC: “looped” by Jahzzar
INTERVIEW, VIDEO & EDIT: Chris Bentzen

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