introduce you to my blogging and life 
I was recently invited to a tourism event at the Vancouver Art Gallery revolving around the presentation of summer exhibits. The star of the show, occupying the entire first floor, is called « Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden 
Age of Dutch Art ». It left me cold. I’ve never really liked Rembrandt and the paintings are too dark for my taste, even though a few were interesting from a lighting perspective (yes, I relate everything to photography...)
I was going to leave it at that and enjoy my sangria in the loud crowded lobby without tackling any of the remaining 3 floors when our host Joshua pointed out the photo exhibit on the third floor. « Andreas Gursky », he said, obviously expecting the lightning of revelation to strike me. It didn’t. I had never heard of the guy. « Do yourself a favor », Joshua added, « check him out. He does large scale photographs. » « Ok, » I decided, and finishing my glass, I climbed up to the third floor.
Boy am I glad I did. Gursky, a German artist, favours enormous images and is compiling what he calls an « encyclopedia of life ». There are a lot of aerial shots and although many of his photographs were actually presented in smaller versions for this exhibition - and for the first time it appears, not sure why - they remain captivating. The larger ones, a few meters long, are plain and simple fascinating. He shamelessly enhances his images digitally and achieves wonderful results without losing his documentary style.
His work isn’t for every one, I would say. But he excels at what he does and his art left me both humbled and motivated. The exhibit is well worth visiting if you are so inclined. Start with the third floor. If time and energy remain, you can still visit the rest. The paintings are so old, they surely can wait a little longer.
« Wow - looks amazing. »
Date of comment: 2009-06-04 12:02 •« Glad you enjoyed Vincent! I must admit I had to google Andreas Gursky for background info before the exhibition arrived at the Gallery.
Date of comment: 2009-06-12 20:29 •I’d be interested on your thoughts of Anthony Hernandez (4th floor) & the new film & accompanying photos as part of the Stan Douglas: Klatsassin exhibition.
Cheers! »
« Hi Joshua,
Date of comment: 2009-06-12 21:35 •Nice of you to drop by! I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t investigated the 4th floor (blame it on the sangria; each sip took a stair away.) As for Douglas, my tour was brief and I didn’t take the time to watch the entire movie. One thing though, his photos didn’t impress me as much for their subject or composition but for equivalent size, the large ones were even crisper than Gursky’s!
I’ll try to be back before I leave! »
« Cool. No worries, Vince.
Date of comment: 2009-06-15 12:20 •I’m not a photographer and like everyone not everything I look at grabs hold of me. I was just curious to hear your thoughts and find out which artist you found most interesting.
If I don’t catch you before you leave. Best of luck on your move and endeavours out east. »