Playhouse

September 20, 2024 – February 27, 2025

Curated by Annie Canto and Amelia Epp
Featuring Anne Meredith Barry, Karin Bubaš, Annie Canto, Victor Cicansky, Leonhard Epp, Gathie Falk, Geoffrey Farmer, Whess Harman, Guná Jensen, Hannah Jickling and Reed H. Reed, Sandeep Johal, Helen Kalvak, Sara Khan, Roz Marshall, Cindy Mochizuki, Parvin Peivandi, Setsuko Piroche, Jane Ash Poitras, Jack Shadbolt, Sylvia Tait, Tukuki, Vancouver School Collective, Etienne Zack, Barbara Zeigler and Joan Smith

Explore Playhouse in 3D

Public Programs

Opening Reception: Friday, September 20, 6-8pm
Light refreshments will be served, including handcrafted cider provided by Bowen Cider House.

Curator’s Tour: Thursday, September 26, 3:30pm
Led by Guest Curator Annie Canto

‘The Giant Strawberry’ Explore & Create: Saturday, November 30, 1-3pm
With Artist Cindy Mochizuki

This workshop will play with the artistic processes of miniature-making using air dry clay, paint and craft papers. Families will work with the artist to create their very own Giant Strawberry scene based on the stories of Mission’s own Strawberry King - Kayemon Shikaze, a Japanese issei farmer who owned strawberry farms in Mission and was crowned the Strawberry King for having the largest berry. Families get an opportunity to look through archival photographs and read about stories that will provide insight into building their own 5″X5″ giant berry patch. Participants are to use these parameters to play with size and scale to create their own unique berry.

Artist Guná Jensen in Conversation with Guest Curator Annie Canto

5 minute version — Artist Feature: Guná Jensen discussing her painting, Self Portrait
17 minute version — In Conversation: Artist Guná Jensen and Guest Curator Annie Canto

Playhouse features artworks from over 20 Canadian artists and presents the Gordon Smith Gallery as a place to experience stories, meet characters, and transform the spaces we inhabit in order to unveil unseen narratives. The exhibition sets the stage for us to consider ways in which the physical, social, cultural, and imagined qualities of a place are intertwined.

Playhouse is inspired by comics, broadly interpreted as characters acting in frames, asserting control over their own narratives. Comics are accessible forms of sequential storytelling where the reader builds a relationship with characters over time. Throughout the exhibition we encounter sculptures, animation, paintings, and textiles containing active forms and figures performing within their panels and waiting to be interpreted by viewers of all ages.

The works of contemporary Canadian artists Whess Harman, Hannah Jickling and Reed H. Reed, Guná Jensen, and Cindy Mochizuki are shown alongside works from the Artists for Kids’ Permanent Collection. The perspectives of elementary and secondary students across the Lower Mainland are featured through textile artworks and zines.

This exhibition is presented by Artists For Kids and the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art in partnership with the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists, the North Vancouver School District, the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission, and is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.