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Contact us by email readbooks@ecuad.ca or on Instagram @readbooks_vancouver for our pick up schedule, which changes weekly.
READ Books is located on unceded, ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mes(Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
New print edition: Dugong in Captivity by Christian Vistan
Image: Christian Vistan, Dugong in Captivity (2021)
Dugong in Captivity, 2021
Christian Vistan
Plate lithography print
Edition of 25
15 x 18”
$200
Printed by Jordan Utting
READ Books is excited to announce a new original print edition by artist Christian Vistan titled Dugong in Captivity.
Dugong in Captivity stems from Vistan’s interest in llaneras, metal molds for leche flan, made from recycled printing plates. Texts and images from the plates’ previous life line these dessert tins. For this edition, Vistan designed an aluminum plate lithograph with the making of a llanera in mind–a forthcoming second part of this project. At once a lithograph, a poem and a llanera template, Dugong in Captivity draws paths between foundational images and memories from Vistan’s life and practice: from a scene of a singing sea cow from a Filipino television program to the process of printmaking itself.
A reading by Vistan will be shared on our social media streams on April 6th to accompany the launch. Follow @readbooks_vancouver on Instagram, READ Books on Facebook, or visit our website to view the reading.
The edition is printed by Emily Carr University student Jordan Utting, and is available for purchase through READ Books.
Contact readbooks@ecuad.ca to inquire about purchasing.
Christian Vistan is a Filipino-Canadian artist from the peninsula now known as Bataan, Philippines, currently living on unceded ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Tsawwassen Nations. He makes paintings, texts and collaborations that are hybrid in form, folding in elements of painting, poetry, translation, memory, furniture, (non)fiction, place and familial histories. His work is grounded in the materials he works with: water, paint, paper and language among others. Recently, he and close friend and collaborator Aubin Kwon started dreams comma delta, a room for artist projects and exhibitions located in his family home in Delta, BC.
The Libby Leshgold Gallery respectfully acknowledges that we are located on the unceded, traditional and ancestral xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories.
flying kiss for receiving cheek
Simon Grefiel
March 26 - May 8, 2021 Glass Corner at the Libby Leshgold Gallery
Viewable at any time—located at the SW Corner of the Emily Carr University building
Under the heat the banana tree becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Thirsty, it takes more and more energy into its roots and senses a squeeze throughout its torso. But as the banana tree grows, what at first feels like an embrace, morphs into a slow constriction as binds and shackles of copper grip its woody flesh. To its misfortune, the banana tree cannot stop growing. It pleads, it tightens, it pleads, it tightens, until it can take no more and begs you for release.
A botanical incantation is cast somewhere in the syncretism between mystic, precolonial and Catholic ritual. A shrine of lush confinement appears, a vestige from decades of violence and destruction, at once humid but sharp, vibrant but dark, as if watching a tropical thunderstorm. Spattered lead and reconstructed shards adorn the vessels that house the spirits in their sweaty splendor. Panes of glass seal secret spells, undisclosed, like that of a clandestine love affair. A vine reaches out its leaf to blow a kiss, a knowing wink to you from behind the window. Choose reverence or torment, you might get a wish.
Maybe the cousin to the banana tree spirit is the one that lies in the 42” flat screen. Is the energy running through the LED any different from the energy running through the vine’s stalk? Old-world spirits remain, while their manifestations take new forms. Advanced technologies generate electronic anting-anting and new cybernetic portals for spirits to reveal themselves. Like finding the holy ghost in a sunset, you never know when you might encounter the divine in the digital, hidden between corrupted images, chain emails and system error codes.
Text by Asia Jong
The Libby Leshgold Gallery is pleased to announce the presentation of flying kiss for receiving cheek, an exhibition by artist Simon Grefiel. This work will be presented in the southwest corner of the Libby Leshgold Gallery, in our exhibition space Glass Corner.
Simon Grefiel was born and raised in Tacloban City, Philippines, and currently lives north of the Fraser River, on the unceded territories of QayQayt and Kwikwetlem First Nations. Through digital works, performances, and objects, Grefiel explores language, ethnographic archives, spirits, and speculative narratives of human migration. Grefiel’s visual language is informed by dreams, familial stories, and images, proposing new ways of experiencing the supernatural realm and the material universe.
Organized by Lyndsay Pomerantz
Em̓út | Being Home
Primrose Adams, Sonny Assu, Dempsey Bob, David A. Boxley, Corey Bulpitt, Brenda Crabtree, Ben Davidson, Robert Davidson, Aggie Davis, Shawn Hunt, Lena Jumbo, Isabel Rorick, Evelyn Vanderhoop, Xwalacktun. Curated by Ray Hartley and Sheila Hall
A new exhibition at the Libby Leshgold Gallery — Em̓út | Being Home — showcases contemporary artwork from some of British Columbia’s most accomplished contemporary Indigenous artists. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Libby Leshgold Gallery, the BC Achievement Foundation, and guest curators Ray Hartley and Sheila Hall from the Aboriginal Gathering Collective. The exhibition highlights new work from established and mid-career artists and the intergenerational work of members of the same family. The artwork is combined in the gallery with a series of intimate films from the BC Achievement Foundation about the artists and their practice.
The art has a rich and vibrant history, existing as an integral part of Indigenous cultures who have lived for thousands of years on the Northwest Coast. This dynamic art form, rich in tradition and continually innovating in response to cultural circumstances, is recognized worldwide for its distinctive character and artistic excellence.
Contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artists are keenly aware of their relationship to their own history. They retain a deep respect for the ancient visual language of their ancestors, and a pre-contact understanding of the art and its importance in their cultures. At the same time they push the boundaries of the art form, referencing and combining traditional and non-traditional ideas with innovative use of materials and motifs. They create art that reinterprets traditional practices, highlights current issues, and addresses historic wrongs.
The exhibition includes artwork in a variety of mediums including painting, printmaking, wood carving, textiles, basket weaving, and sculpture. It showcases the artists' unique interpretations, technical excellence, and mastery of materials, and explores both traditional art and the social, cultural, and political activism of contemporary Northwest Coast art and design.
Indigenous peoples live in all areas of the Northwest Coast, from small villages to large urban centers. They have survived the devastating impact of colonization and residential schools and are now in the process of a new resurgence, thriving in the places in which they live. This exhibition is part of a process of rewriting the historic narratives of governments and institutions and expressing an Indigenous perspective and an Indigenous truth. It is also an expression of Northwest Coast Indigenous artists understanding of Em̓út — of being home.
The BC Achievement Foundation celebrates the spirit of excellence in British Columbia by recognizing the accomplishments of our province’s artists, community leaders, youth, and volunteers. The Fulmer Award in First Nations Art honours excellence in Indigenous art and is presented each year by the BC Achievement Foundation to established, mid-career, and emerging First Nations artists. The films, which are produced in conjunction with the Award, give intimate portraits of the artists at work in their homes and studios.
This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Ben Davidson — Tlanang nang kingaas (the one who is known far away) — who passed suddenly last August at the age of 44. Ben was a husband, father of five children, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend. He was also an exceptionally talented artist transforming wood, metal, paint, and paper into exquisite creations that were traditional, whimsical, and full of life – just like him. He believed in the importance of sharing Haida culture whether it was dancing at a potlatch – he was a member of the Rainbow Creek Dance Group — or creating extraordinary artwork to reflect traditional beliefs and stories. He always had a good story to tell and was incredibly generous, contributing to his community by donating art, sharing his time, or providing mentorship to others. Ben participated in two previous international exhibitions in Hawaii with the Aboriginal Gathering Collective and several of his artworks are in this exhibition.
For more information on this exhibition please visit the Libby Leshgold Gallery website.
Image: Ben Davidson, Almost There. Silkscreen serigraph on rag paper
New in stock!
QULLIQ is the most recent publication by ECU Press. It is a monograph on the work of Inuvialuit contemporary artist Maureen Gruben, with texts by Kyra Kordoski, Tarah Hogue, Tania Willard, and Cate Rimmer. Edited by Kay Higgins and Kathy Slade.
READ Books | Libby Leshgold Gallery | Emily Carr University
