Surrey Art Gallery’s 40th Anniversary

Since 1975, the Surrey Art Gallery has featured art from local, national, and international artists. Now in its 40th year, the gallery has been focusing on the city itself and the talented creative people, born-and-raised and from around the world, who call it home.

Surrey Art Gallery’s 40th Anniversary

Throughout the past 40 years, there are been over 750 exhibitions at the Surrey Art Gallery and 10,000 artists have been featured. I took a trip to my hometown last week to visit with Jordan Strom, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, who led me through “Views from the Southbank III“, which has brought together over 20 artists South of the Fraser River who respond to our digital age in varying ways.

Photo credit: Edward Westerhuis

“It’s art from where we are,” Jordan told me as we stepped into the main gallery space that seemed to be teeming with life thanks to its mixed-media pieces on display. Videos, audio, photographs, and sculptures provided movement in this living space that represented living in Surrey. Infographics, GPS-mapping, video games, textiles, wood carving, ceramics, Jordan says “all depict the city as people who live here see it,” and in particular how we see it in a data structured world.

The paintings of power lines and railroad tracks, the views of the Pattullo, farms, forests, and representations of mixing cultures all remind me of my hometown. The gallery reassures me that I don’t need to head out of town to find inspiring and thought-provoking art.

Sylvia Grace Borda’s Google Street View immersive digital media art project was created in collaboration with Google Street View photographer John Lynch. Debbie Tuepah’s poured-and-peeled paint sculpture graphs all of the languages spoken in Surrey. Ben Reeves found the location for his paintings by literally throwing a dart at a map and trekking to that location to paint the view he sees from his car steering wheel.

Another exhibit in an adjacent gallery is “Re:Source – A Living Archive 1975-2015“, the 4th phase in an exhibition that began in September. Here you can discover 40 years of exhibitions with photos, commentary, and critiques. You can visit these exhibitions, and more, until December 13th at the Surrey Art Gallery, located in the Surrey Arts Centre at the entrance to Bear Creek Park (13750 88th Ave).

Special Events

What: Archive Artists Panel: “The Archeology of Art”
Where: Surrey Art Gallery
When: Saturday, November 14, 2015 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm

What: Contemporary Art Bus Tour
Where: Starting from the Surrey Art Gallery
When: Wednesday, November 18, 2015 from 9:00am to 3:00pm

What: Surrey Tree Lighting Festival Art Gallery Booth
Where: Surrey City Hall Plaza (13450 104th Ave)
When: Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 12:00pm to 8:00

What: SAGA Art & Craft Sale, Show & Sale
Where: Surrey Art Gallery
When: Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 12:00pm to 8:00pm

What: Sound Thinking Symposium: Voicing the City in/verse
Where: Olympia Restaurant (10257 King George Blvd)
When: Saturday, November 28, 2015 from 7:00pm to 11:00pm

What: Sound Thinking Symposium: Voicing the City in/verse
Where: Surrey Art Gallery
When: Sunday November 29, 2015 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm

Read more about these events and upcoming December events online, and follow the Surrey Art Gallery on Facebook.