Marian Penner Bancroft

The Contemporary Art Gallery presents a major new commission for Yaletown-Roundhouse Station by influential Vancouver-based photographer Marian Penner Bancroft.

Since the late sixties, Penner Bancroft has defined herself as a photographer, dedicating her practice to the medium, meditating on its conventions while also considering the dematerialization of the art object; combining conceptual art strategies as well as pushing the presentation and production of the photographic image into more immersive forms. She is known for drawing attention to the lines between where an image begins and what constitutes an image — at times using the physical framing device as a tangible three-dimensional photographic field.

The subject of Penner Bancroft’s work often resides in the personal, following her family, tracking their daily movements both real and, in the case of her ancestors, imagined. She embeds these inquiries into images of the landscape, using visual traces of a colonial transit to and across Canada as part of an individual yet generalized narrative of immigration and displacement. In recent years she has widened the scope of her research to include the histories of the fur trade, farming, music and religion in relation to the landscape and mapping.

For this new commission, details from a sequence of photographs of winter trees are grouped together in a mirrored formation around two of the station’s glass walls. As high-contrast translucent prints adhered to the windows, they create a lattice effect, casting patterns and shadows in the station when the sun shines through. Penner Bancroft deliberately selected these images from others taken along the Cambie Heritage Boulevard as the Canada Line forms a subterranean echo of the road. This green space, only fifty years old in 1993 when deemed a heritage site by the City of Vancouver, is a highly cultivated strip of land with nearly 450 trees, its significance as an example of Canadian urban design and planning — greatly influenced by the late nineteenth-century English garden city movement — providing a metaphor for notions of origin, belonging, history, and mapping.

Landscape figures prominently in Canadian history. Its scale, diversity, harsh climate, and terrain are inescapable and inextricably linked to the formation of the nation — its cities, economics, culture, and colonial beginnings. In Vancouver this interlocking of landscape and identity is heightened by its geographic location as well as its relative youth.

The Cambie Heritage Boulevard is made of a mix of grass, trees and ornamental plants, but featured prominently between 25th and 29th Avenues are the earliest plantings of two distinct types of trees: Golden Elms and Sequoias. The former originates in Germany, but is a staple of the English picturesque garden while the latter is a redwood indigenous to North America’s west coast. They are an unlikely pairing, but can be considered emblematic of attempts to cultivate space using landscaping strategies developed elsewhere. The contrast between these two trees heightens this sense of another place and time, and through Penner Bancroft’s images, the mural evokes both subtle and beautiful associations and dislocations, a sense of familiarity not simply as representations of trees but as something that is connected to an idea of home. At Yaletown-Roundhouse Station the commuter will be prompted to consider something we know as belonging to here, while, like many of us, also belongs elsewhere.

Presented in partnership with the Canada Line Public Art Program — InTransit BC.

### Biography

Marian Penner Bancroft lives and works in Vancouver. She has had various solo exhibitions including the Vancouver Art Gallery (2012); Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge (2001); the University College of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford (1999); and National Film Board Gallery, Ottawa (1979). Bancroft has also participated in group exhibitions including at Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver (2012); Vancouver Art Gallery (2008); Centre D’art Contemporain, Caen (2005); Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris (2002); Art Gallery of Windsor (1997); Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (1997); Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa (1994); University of California, Santa Barbara (1992); the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1982) and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1975), among many others. In addition, she has created several public art works including *Root System, Pipeline Road, Stanley Park* (2007) commissioned by InTransit BC and the Canada Line, and a permanent site-specific piece— *Lost Streams, Kitsilano* (1995-96) — for the City of Vancouver Park Board.


ProgramGuideSpring2014.pdf

A mirrored black and white image of leafless entangled tree branches. 

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Exterior windows of Yaletown-Roundhouse Station installed with photographic prints in vinyl of tree silhouettes. Light from the station shines through the silhouettes, creating a lattice effect.

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A side view of Yaletown-Roundhouse Station. Its exterior windows are installed with photographic prints in vinyl of tree silhouettes. Two adjacent windows are installed with mirrored versions of the same tree forms. 

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An interior photograph of Yaletown-Roundhouse Station. The windows of the station are installed with photographic prints in vinyl of tree silhouettes. Outdoor light shines through into the station. 

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An interior photograph of Yaletown-Roundhouse Station. The windows of the station are installed with photographic prints in vinyl of tree silhouettes. Outdoor light shines through into the station.

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Boulevard

In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, the Contemporary Art Gallery presents an exhibition honoring its early years. On February 23, 1973, the Artists’ Gallery opened its doors at 555 Hamilton Street. Later to be renamed the Contemporary Art Gallery, the Artists’ Gallery was initiat­ed by an arts advisory committee under the umbrella of the City of Vancouver. Central to its early mandate and philosophy was the promotion and creation of local visu­al arts. 

During this time the City of Vancouver began a program, with assistance from the Federal Local Initiatives Program (LIP) to collect works by local artists. In support of this ambitious project, the Artists’ Gallery was con­ceived as both a depository and exhibition space. The Contemporary Art Gallery continues to act as custodian for over 3000 collected works, many dating from the early to mid 1970s when the majority of works were created. The history of this important collection of art, of the Artists’ Gallery and of the early years of the community that shaped what would become the Contemporary Art Gallery will be showcased this summer in an exhibition featuring selected works from the collection. 


Essay: “L.I.P. Service,” Reid Sheir

A black and white photograph depicting a person wearing a striped shirt drinking from a glass bottle. They are outdoors in a vast crowd of people milling around or seated in the grass.

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Four coloured paintings are mounted on the gallery wall. These images depict people working in various natural environments including lakes and woods. Their gestures mimic some biblical stories. 

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A coil-shaped wood sculpture is placed on a pedestal. Two coloured prints and a pair of black and white drawings are mounted on the wall behind this wood sculpture.  

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A tall sculpture is placed in the middle of the gallery floor. It has two cube shapes; one is on the floor and another in the air supported by a thin leg. These two cubes are connected with a chain.

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A number of black and whire photographs are mounted on the wall. They are arranged in two rows running horizontally to the floor. A wood sculpture on a pedestal stands in front of this wall.

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Five artworks are installed on a gallery wall. A text-based work is placed in between a coloured photograph and a drawing. Two large black and white drawings are mounted in the back. 

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A large sculpture is placed on a pedestal. It looks like a flat square-shaped slab of white marble. This slab has a carved gun bullet shape placed in its middle. 

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Eight black and white photographs are mounted on the wall. They are placed in a row horizontal to the floor. Many of those photographs depict pedestrians on the streets. 

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On a large plinth placed in the middle of the gallery, six square-shaped sculptures sit. Four framed two-dimensional works are mounted on the walls around this plinth. 

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In a gallery space, a set of blue and white landscape drawings and another set of small coloured drawings are mounted on the wall. Two wood sculptures are placed on pedestals.

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Different two-dimensional images cover CAG’s window spaces. One window is covered by a detailed image of a black and white photograph of children standing outside. 

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A set of eight coloured drawings are mounted on the wall. Those images are dominated by blue, grey, and white. These depict different scenes of a city foregrounding blue mountains and the sky.

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Two of CAG’s window spaces are visible in this photograph. Different works cover those windows. One is covered by an enlarged image of a photograph of people at English Bay in Vancouver. 

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A set of three drawings are mounted on the wall. They all depict geometric shapes that could be found in geometry exams. None of the drawn shapes are shaded. 

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Two of CAG’s window spaces are visible in this photograph. Enlarged images from different black and white photographs cover those windows. Both images depict people but in different social settings.

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Works from the City of Vancouver collection

L.I.P. Service

The Contemporary Art Gallery is the custodian of a civic collection of 3000 artworks by Vancouver artists. This collection was acquired between 1973 and 1978 by the Social Planning Department of the City of Vancouver, with the assistance of the Federal Government’s Manpower and Immigration Department. With funding from the “Local Initiatives Program” artists were hired to make artwork that would be exhibited in the Gallery and later circulated throughout the many civic buildings in Vancouver. After 1978, a few additional works were donated to the Contemporary Art Gallery, so the core of the collection remains a reflection of the art activity in Vancouver during the 1970s.

The upcoming exhibition will be the first time the collection has been exhibited in the Contemporary Art Gallery since 1985. The focus is on works by five women artists active in Vancouver during the 1970s: Marian Penner Bancroft (photography), Cathy Charlton (drawing), Judith Lodge (painting), Liz Magor (sculpture), and Chick Rice (photography). The 1970s was an important period for women artists generally, as they began to break away from male-dominated discourses. The work in this exhibition is varied, but there is an underlying sense of the “domestic" in its broadest terms. Works in this exhibition document the intimacy of familial and social events, and personalize portraits of friends.

*Permanent collection: Works from the 1970s* marks the beginning of a re-evaluation of the Contemporary Art Gallery collection and an opportunity to explore an important era in the recent history of Vancouver's art activity.


A scanned exhibition invitation. It has a white background with black text with information about the exhibition, artists and gallery. A bold yellow and black block of text says PERMANENT COLLECTION.

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Marian Penner Bancroft, Cathy Charlton, Judith Lodge, Liz Magor, Chick Rice

Permanent Collection: Works from the 1970s

*Ten Years Later*, an exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of the Contemporary Art Gallery, opens at the gallery on November 25 and runs through December 20. The exhibition contains work by Marian Penner Bancroft, Judith Lodge, Liz Magor, Al McWilliams, Richard Prince, Judy Williams, and Robert Young. A special 10th Anniversary celebration for CAG and a reception for the artists will take place at the gallery on December 8 at 8pm.

The Contemporary Art Gallery began life as the Artist’s Gallery and was initially funded by a Local Initiatives Project Grant under which artists were hired to produce artwork. The seven artists represented in *Ten Years Later* were among the artists on the gallery’s payroll in those early days. The LIP Program was co-sponsored by the City of Vancouver and the artworks produced were exhibited in public buildings throughout the city and became part of the city's collection. This public exhibition policy is still in place and is administered by CAG.

While *Ten Years Later* focuses on current work by the seven artists, the catalogue not only documents the exhibition but also reproduces representative works from the City's collection. The catalogue also contains interviews with the artists by Avis Lang and a historical essay by founding CAG board member Rosemary Poll and Christine Elving, the gallery's current Director.




Publication: Ten Years Later

A close view of a sculpture in a gallery. The sculpture is made of a flat metal disk sitting upright in a black stand.

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Several artworks visible in the hallway of a gallery. The works include large abstract paintings on canvas and paper, large framed photos of a group of people with text overlay, and small sculptures. 

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Several artworks on the wall of a gallery. At the centre there is a large abstract painting made of rough black and gold marks on canvas. On the sides, there are sets of black and white photos.

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3 artworks in a gallery. One work is made of 2 portraits facing each other, and text between them reads "Appearances are important. Appear important." The other 2 works are a sculpture and a painting. 

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Two artworks in a corner. One of the works is a set of photos of toy soldiers in tall grass. The other is a small metal stand with a round form at the top, and a maquette of the same form on the wall.

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Marian Penner Bancroft, Judith Lodge, Al McWilliams, Liz Magor, Richard Prince, Judy Williams, Robert Young

Ten Years Later

This catalogue was published in 1986 by the Contemporary Art Gallery on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Contemporary Art Gallery and the exhibition *Ten Years Later* by artists Marian Penner Bancroft, Judith Lodge, Al McWilliams, Liz Magor, Richard Prince, Judy Williams and Robert Young, held at CAG from November 25 – December 20, 1986. The publication contains text contributions by Director and Curator Christine Elving, Rosemary Poll, Avis Young and texts by each individual artist.

Marian Penner Bancroft

Exhibitions

Publications & Editions