Ed Varney is BC.’s king of mail art, and has organised the Mail Art Olympix show, opening at the Havana Gallery on Commercial Drive,  on February 21. It runs until March, 2010.

Some excerpts from the PR:

“…he felt this would be a great opportunity to stage an art event which paralleled the Olympics but which was completely egalitarian and based on co-operation rather than competition. He felt that such an exhibition would have many of the qualities which drove the modern Olympic movement before it became distorted by rampant commercialism.

… he picked three “event” categories. The first “event”, the artist Self Portrait, is a format which has always been interesting to both artists and the public. He felt that this intimate form would be an exciting visual treat, focusing as it does on how artists present themselves and the many masks they wear.

The second event, Artistamps, seemed like a good choice since many artists around the world worked in this format which parallels and parodies official postage stamps – something which mail artists use a lot. Artists interpreted the Artistamp category liberally and produced not only sheets of artistamps, but designs for potential stamps, collages that used stamps, and rubber stamp art as well.

He chose Manifestos as the third event knowing that even if there were not as many entries as the other events, it would give insights into the concerns, methods and intent of artists. Surprisingly, many of the manifestos that were sent to him were visual rather than written.

Beginning in early 2009, he sent out invitations to about 250 artists on his mailing lists and distributed the invitation through arts journals and the internet. He received work from over 350 artists representing 41 countries, much of it in colourfully decorated envelopes. Mail Art is seen as a particularly important form in countries where freedom of expression is limited. Mail Art allows artists to comment on political and personal issues outside their home countries in a completely free and uncensored environment. There is also a Dadaist sense of humour apparent in a lot of Mail Art and a sense that Mail Art exists outside the “art world” of commercial and institutional galleries, art criticism, and an unhealthy concern with money which dogs much of contemporary art. Many of the manifestos address these concerns.

For more information,  e-mail Ed Varney at evarney@shaw.ca

The Mail Art Olympix has also been exhibited at:

The Comox Valley Art Gallery, November 13 to December 31, 2009 


The Penticton Art Gallery, January 22 to February, 2010


Around here Chinese New Year’s is a major event and this year Chinatown went all out. The parade was extra-long and the crush of spectators particularly dense.  Offerings of lettuce and red envelopes hung from almost every doorway, and bands of lion dancers and drummers roamed the streets long after the main parade had dispersed.

A DTES Art Walk ran on the same day, and we  finally got to explore  some of the  spaces we’d lusted after as art students, a couple of decades ago. Back in the ’80’s, the Chinese owners just laughed at us when we asked about studio rentals in those great, high-ceilinged old buildings. But the area’s economic downturn, its aging population and growth of Richmond’s malls has given art students and other gwai lo access where there had been none before.

This beautiful young woman had just come from the parade, and was walking home with her boyfriend. I think  the body-paint tattoo was done at Sun Yat Sen Gardens on Pender Street.  They had events on as well… a local Peking Opera performed… and the gardens were full of music and sunlight.

And then two days after…

After little more than showering, getting a few groceries, and watching a fair amount of really bad TV,  I’ve re-accummulated enough energy and focus to scribble a quick Crawl update. We had masses of people, although it did seem as if the bad weather lowered the numbers for the first two days. Lots of sales, and many, many interesting conversations through the whole weekend.

There are still some calendars remaining, and Boyd at the Wilder Snail, 799 Keefer Street, has been kind enough to carry them. I’ll post an image as soon as I figure out how to do.  Until then,  it can be found by clicking on the “12 buddha” tab at the top of the home page.