Vancouver Art Gallery Opens New Dedicated Collection Floor
The Vancouver Art Gallery has just opened a new dedicated collection floor, the first in more than two decades. Highlights from the Collection is a major exhibition drawn entirely from the gallery’s permanent holdings of more than 13,000 artworks.
Vancouver Art Gallery Opens New Dedicated Collection Floor
- Dates: April 1, 2026 to January 6, 2030
- Location: Vancouver Art Gallery 750 Hornby St, Vancouver
- Admission: Purchase tickets online or in person
Featuring more than 200 works by over 100 artists, the exhibition traces the evolving history of the collection through the environments in which art has lived, circulated and gathered meaning. With the selection rotating regularly to preserve light-sensitive works, the exhibition will continually refresh, offering visitors differing perspectives on the collection throughout its run.
Highlights from the Collection takes visitors on a tour through the Vancouver Art Gallery’s collection, from historic Indigenous art to contemporary practices today. Significant works—including The Atom (c. 1938) by Beatrice Lennie, Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe (1967) and Geoffrey Farmer’s The Surgeon and the Photographer (2009)—are joined by recent acquisitions such as Elizabeth McIntosh’s striking painting Work Out (2023), Ellen Pau’s first super-8 film Glove (1984) and photographs by Shikanosuke Yagaki from the 1930s.
The selection includes over 40 of the Gallery’s recent acquisitions, spanning sculpture, prints, video installations and site-specific wall paintings. Largely chronological, artworks appear in environments that evoke the exhibition conventions at the time the works were made, from salon-style arrangements and the intimate setting of a modernist home to the experimental spaces of artist-run centres and contemporary white cube galleries.
Visitors begin their journey with an acknowledgment of the central, ongoing place of contemporary and Historic Indigenous Art in this region, including 19th century Haida totem poles, masks and silver jewellery. The section Early Collecting introduces the artistic histories and ideas that shaped the Gallery’s beginnings, bringing together works by Canadian photographer William Notman and Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris alongside Emily Carr, whose modernist depictions of Pacific Northwest forests continue to influence how the region is seen and represented in art today.
Modernisms on the West Coast explores Vancouver’s postwar embrace of abstraction and modern design, with works by BC Binning, Rita Letendre and Jack Shadbolt, while Street Photography highlights artists such as Fred Herzog, now Vancouver’s most widely recognized street photographer, whose vibrant images capture the rich textures of everyday life in the city. In Pop & Prints, works by Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg reflect the impact of consumer culture, alongside works that play with scale and materials by artists including Gathie Falk and Dan Flavin. Claes Oldenburg‘s Saw (Hard Version), commissioned for a 1969 exhibition at the Gallery, stands as a testament to the bold experimentation of the era.
The exhibition continues with Video & 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 Paul Wong, Robert Smithson and Nam June Paik. It concludes with Photoconceptualism, which redefined photography’s role in contemporary art, alongside Contemporary Collecting, highlighting the 1980s as a transformative period of expansion for the Gallery’s collection. New acquisitions underscore this evolution, with photography by Thomas Ruff and Cindy Sherman presented alongside significant works by Vancouver’s leading photo-based artists, including Marian Penner Bancroft, Dana Claxton, Stan Douglas, Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace and Yin-me Yoon.
Related: That Green Ideal: Emily Carr at Vancouver Art Gallery
Public Events
The Making Place
Every Sunday, 11:00am – 4:00pm
The Making Place is an invitation for families to get creative together and make art inspired by the exhibitions on display. Every Sunday, families can expect hands-on making activities and a family-focused tour at 2PM, designed for visitors aged 5 to 12 years old and their families, although everyone is welcome. Drop in for a same-day tour on the day of your visit.
Lunchtime Look
Wednesdays at 1:00pm
Take a closer look at the exhibition during your lunch hour with an intimate tour series led by members of the Gallery team. Each week a different expert—from curators and educators to conservators and art handlers—offers a unique perspective, sharing behind-the-scenes insights and stories about the artworks on view. Tours will be offered weekly, beginning April 15, and are free with Gallery admission. No booking required.
Public Tours
Thursdays at 10:30am, 11:30am, 1:00pm, 2:00pm & Sundays 11:00am
Guided Tours are a great way to enhance your Gallery experience and learn more about the cultural and social contexts of artworks on display. Led by a trained Art Educator, each tour is unique and reflects your guide’s passions and interests. Free with Gallery admission.
Follow Miss604 on:
