New works by Kevin Schmidt, Hannah Rickards and Batia Suter

New public art installation by Kevin Schmidt wraps the exterior of The Polygon Gallery, produced in collaboration with the Burrard Arts Foundation
winter 2018/2019

Kevin Schmidt’s installation covers the exterior façade of The Polygon Gallery with blinking, multi-coloured LED lights. Titled Reckless, the lights are timed to a soundtrack composed by Schmidt, based on the 1984 album of the same name by Canadian singer-songwriter and former North Vancouver resident Bryan Adams. Schmidt’s soundtrack can be heard on the building’s outdoor speakers, or by tuning in to 87.8 on local FM radio.

Kevin Schmidt lives and works in British Columbia. He has exhibited internationally, most recently with a major solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2018), and is represented by Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver. Reckless is the second in a 10-year commissioning program of new public artworks installed at The Polygon Gallery in collaboration with the Burrard Arts Foundation. The work will remain on view throughout winter 2019 from 4-11pm daily.

Hannah Rickards debuts a new video installation: One can make out the surface only by placing any dark-coloured object on the ground
until January 13, 2019

This new installation features a 40-minute video depicting two performers interacting with photographic materials on a large soundstage. The title of Rickards’ installation aptly describes the difficulty of navigating white-out conditions in a snowy landscape with no visible horizon lines. The exhibition includes a screen print that maps the movements made by the camera rig and a display case of geological artefacts and documents referencing natural phenomena and weather. Working with the languages of film, drawing and performance, Rickards explores the non-linear fluidity between site, gesture and staging. Her choreographed exhibition teases out the mysteries of the unseen.

Hannah Rickards is an interdisciplinary artist from London, UK, now based in Vancouver. Rickards has had solo exhibitions at Modern Art Oxford, the Fogo Island Gallery, The Whitechapel Gallery and The Showroom Gallery, London. Group exhibitions include the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; ICA, London; Witte de With, Rotterdam; and Hayward Gallery’s touring exhibition Listening. She was awarded the Max Mara Art Prize for Women in 2008, the Phillip Leverhulme Prize in Visual and Performing Arts in 2015, and the Nigel Greenwood Art Prize in 2018.

Artist and bookmaker Batia Suter debuts Parallel Encyclopedia Extended, her first solo exhibition in North America
until January 13, 2019

Parallel Encyclopedia Extended marks the first North American exhibition by the Swiss artist Batia Suter. This dramatic installation of photographic reproductions sourced from thousands of books are based on Suter’s latest artist book, Parallel Encyclopedia #2 (2016), for which she was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. Stripped of their past contexts, the photographs develop surprising new associations as part of their new, eclectic constellations through collage. The artist defies notions of encyclopedic order and instead, proposes a “parallel” and poetic version of visual evidence. Based in Amsterdam, Suter has published numerous artist books and has exhibited widely, most recently at Le Bal in Paris.

About The Polygon Gallery
Previously known as Presentation House Gallery for four decades, The Polygon Gallery offers a one-of-a-kind space to encounter contemporary visual art with a focus on photography; engaging the public with the most visionary artists of our time.

The Polygon Gallery opened its doors to a new space one year ago, November 18, 2017. The landmark building situated on North Vancouver’s waterfront was designed by British Columbia architectural firm Patkau Architects.

Admission is always by donation, courtesy of BMO Financial Group.

The Polygon Gallery
101 Carrie Cates Court
North Vancouver, BC
V7M 3J4, Canada
T +1 604 986 1351