Surrey Art Gallery hosts ARTS 2023 exhibit to showcase local work
The annual exhibit features over 50 pieces of artwork
Artist work displayed at the ARTS 2023 exhibit pictured right to left, top to bottom: Long Eared Owl On Alert by Elaine Krieger, Paldi, A Place Like This by Monica Cheema, Passengers in East Vancouver by Pari, and Organic Snack by Susan Pellaers. (Submitted)
The ARTS 2023 exhibit at the Surrey Art Gallery is a long-time installment that has been showcasing established and growing artists for over 40 years. Using the “Community Rail” area of the gallery, intended to connect art with the Surrey community, around 50 creations are showcased for members of the public to visit from now until Aug. 13.
The exhibit is a collaboration between the Arts Council Of Surrey and the Surrey Art Gallery in an effort to increase community engagement with artistry.
“In [the Surrey art community] a lot of people can feel disconnected or isolated, especially when it comes to things like art,” says Rhys Edwards, assistant curator of the Surrey Art Gallery.
“There’s a high migrant population here who may have had a different experience with art and culture and may not come from a place where there’s the same kind of public infrastructure to show art, and so we try to make a connection with those people.”
From paintings and drawings to sculptures and dioramas, the exhibit showcases art from all corners of the world. Some of the work displayed at this year’s exhibit includes Long Eared Owl On Alert, a mixed media piece by Elaine Krieger, Paldi, A Place Like This, a digital video by Monica Cheema, Passengers in East Vancouver, a print of artist-led AI generation mixed with archival visuals by Pari, and Organic Snack, an acrylic painting by Susan Pellaers.
ARTS 2023 has opened itself up to more artist submissions by waiving admission fees and having no age or background restrictions.
There is also a jury chosen to award first, second, and third place among the almost 200 submissions from across the world, Edwards says.
“[The jury] consists of three people, a member of the Surrey Art Gallery itself along with some kind of local art historian or art educator, and the third role is a local professional artist,” he says.
“The idea is to get people together who have some range of different backgrounds and experiences with art [and can] think through arts.”
One of the contributing artists for the exhibit is Chito Maravilla, an immigrant artist from the Philippines who has been living in Vancouver for the past decade. He says he uses his art as a way to involve himself in his new-found home.
“[This exhibit] is a way of sharing my experiences and communicating to the community. It’s very important,” Maravilla says.
“I had those episodes, when I first came here, to shy awards from the people, from the crowd. of isolation and loneliness, but [art] gives me more energy and immerses me [in the community].”
Maravilla has worked in advertising and fashion design positions since moving to Canada, but still works on his art, holding multiple showings in Manila, New York, and Vancouver. As an artist who likes to keep busy, Maravilla says ARTS 2023 was the perfect event to get involved in.
“[The event] motivates me and [I] look forward to the jury exhibition, that way I have something to conceptualize,” Maravilla says.
Edwards says ARTS 2023 wanted to add another way for the community to get involved with art, and so they added a people’s choice award, a viewer-voted award for artwork that didn’t get a placement but still managed to catch the attention of a lot of guests.
The exhibit also has a strong connection to the Lower Mainland as many local artists use the region and its community as inspiration for their pieces, working with local themes and depicting local sights, Edwards says.
Admission to the exhibit is free. To learn more about ARTS 2023, visit the event’s website.
