Featuring more than\u00a0200\u00a0works by over 100 artists, the exhibition traces the evolving history of the collection through the\u00a0environments in which art has lived,\u00a0circulated\u00a0and gathered meaning.\u00a0With\u00a0the selection\u00a0rotating regularly to preserve\u00a0light-sensitive\u00a0works, the exhibition will continually\u00a0refresh, offering visitors\u00a0differing\u00a0perspectives on the collection\u00a0throughout\u00a0its run.<\/p>\n
![\"Vancouver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/herzog.jpg\")
Fred Herzog, Untitled [Hastings and Columbia Street, Vancouver], 1958, chromogenic print, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Purchased with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program and the Vancouver Art Gallery Acquisition Fund, VAG 2005.13.3<\/p>\n
Highlights from the Collection<\/a>\u00a0takes visitors on a\u00a0tour\u00a0through the Vancouver Art Gallery\u2019s collection, from historic Indigenous art to contemporary practices today.\u00a0Significant\u00a0works\u2014including\u00a0The Atom\u00a0(c. 1938) by\u00a0Beatrice Lennie,\u00a0Andy Warhol\u2019s\u00a0Marilyn Monroe\u00a0(1967) and\u00a0Geoffrey Farmer\u2019s\u00a0The Surgeon and the Photographer\u00a0(2009)\u2014are joined by recent\u00a0acquisitions such as\u00a0Elizabeth McIntosh\u2019s\u00a0striking painting\u00a0Work Out\u00a0(2023),\u00a0Ellen Pau\u2019s first super-8 film\u00a0Glove\u00a0(1984)\u00a0and photographs by\u00a0Shikanosuke Yagaki\u00a0from the 1930s. <\/p>\n The\u00a0selection\u00a0includes over 40\u00a0of the Gallery\u2019s recent acquisitions, spanning sculpture, prints, video\u00a0installations\u00a0and site-specific wall paintings.\u00a0Largely chronological, artworks appear in environments that evoke\u00a0the exhibition conventions at the time the works were\u00a0made, from salon-style arrangements and the intimate setting of a modernist home to the experimental\u00a0spaces of artist-run\u00a0centres\u00a0and contemporary white cube galleries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Visitors begin their journey\u00a0with an acknowledgment of the central, ongoing\u00a0place of\u00a0contemporary and\u00a0Historic Indigenous Art\u00a0in this region,\u00a0including\u00a019th\u00a0century Haida\u00a0totem poles,\u00a0masks\u00a0and silver jewellery. The section\u00a0Early Collecting\u00a0introduces\u00a0the artistic histories and ideas that shaped the Gallery\u2019s beginnings, bringing\u00a0together works by Canadian photographer\u00a0William\u00a0Notman\u00a0and Group of Seven painter\u00a0Lawren\u00a0Harris\u00a0alongside\u00a0Emily Carr, whose modernist depictions of Pacific Northwest forests continue to influence how the region is seen and represented in art today.\u00a0<\/p>\n Modernisms on the West Coast\u00a0explores Vancouver\u2019s postwar embrace of abstraction and modern design,\u00a0with works by\u00a0BC Binning,\u00a0Rita Letendre\u00a0and\u00a0Jack Shadbolt,\u00a0while\u00a0Street Photography\u00a0highlights artists such as\u00a0Fred Herzog, now Vancouver\u2019s most widely recognized street photographer, whose vibrant images capture the rich textures of everyday life in the city. In\u00a0Pop & Prints, works by\u00a0Roy Lichtenstein\u00a0and\u00a0Robert Rauschenberg\u00a0reflect the impact of consumer culture, alongside works that play with scale and materials\u00a0by artists including\u00a0Gathie\u00a0Falk\u00a0and\u00a0Dan Flavin.\u00a0Claes Oldenburg\u2018s\u00a0Saw (Hard Version),\u00a0commissioned\u00a0for a 1969\u00a0exhibition at the\u00a0Gallery, stands as a testament to the bold experimentation of the era.\u00a0<\/p>\n The exhibition continues with\u00a0Video & Performance, examining the Gallery as a key venue for interdisciplinary and time-based work in the 1960s and 70s. The Rotunda is transformed by performance documentation and video works from local and international artists, including\u00a0Paul Wong,\u00a0Robert Smithson\u00a0and\u00a0Nam June\u00a0Paik. It concludes with\u00a0Photoconceptualism, which redefined photography\u2019s role in contemporary art, alongside\u00a0Contemporary Collecting, highlighting the 1980s as a transformative period of expansion for the Gallery\u2019s collection. New acquisitions underscore this evolution, with photography by\u00a0Thomas Ruff\u00a0and\u00a0Cindy Sherman\u00a0presented alongside\u00a0significant works by Vancouver\u2019s leading photo-based artists,\u00a0including\u00a0Marian Penner Bancroft,\u00a0Dana Claxton,\u00a0Stan Douglas,\u00a0Jeff Wall,\u00a0Ian\u00a0Wallace\u00a0and\u00a0Yin-me Yoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n