The Vancouver Art Gallery has been putting on some amazing webinars; one of them is this session with Jan Wade in conversation with her friend Glenn Alteen. (also check out my other blog post about Jan Wade's current exhibition in the Vancouver Art Gallery).
Highly recommend a listen to this one - it feels very intimate, like listening in on two friends at the table next to you in the coffee shop.
Much of the session follows Jan's and Glen's reminiscences about Vancouver in the 1980's and it is a fascinating recollection of a part of Vancouver's history we may not be familiar with. It is like listening in on a private coffee conversation with references to people you've never heard of, places you've never seen with vicarious pleasure of intimate knowledge of others.
The mis-interpretation of the automatic subtitles is a beat-poetry riot. What stuck with me is that - just like my life- much of their life was haphazard. Things happened. You kinda fell into things. Happened to be at the right place, right time. Were asked to join something, which then connected you to....
I also loved the dichotomy between the very down-to-earth interview, and the curator's interpretations and commentary on the art. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED the curation. But I always wonder - is art creation that intentional, or more inspirational?
About Jan Wade
Jan Wade was born in 1952 in Hamilton, Ontario, to a Black Canadian father with familial origins in the American South and a Canadian mother of European descent. Raised in a relatively segregated but close-knit Black community within the city, her formative years were heavily influenced by her local African Methodist Episcopal Church. She was also greatly influenced by Southern US Black culture and aesthetics from the perspectives of her paternal grandmother and great-grandmother. Wade studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design (1972–76).
She moved to Vancouver in 1983 and became part of the underground art and music scene in the city, with its innovative performances, do-it-yourself art shows, anti-establishment ethos and spontaneous happenings. [From the pre-order page for the book Soul Power]
For over thirty years, Jan Wade has been creating mixed-media paintings, textiles and sculptural objects, drawing upon her lived experience as an African Canadian person and her mixed cultural heritage. The Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition: "Jan Wade: Soul Power" brings together the artist’s diverse body of work alongside new pieces made specifically for the exhibition. [VAG]
Recently this instagram has started to post a lot of her art - it may be herself!
The Vancouver Art Gallery also links to a Spotify playlist the artist compiled - here's the link.
You can watch the whole interview here.
Update: also from the Vancouver Art Gallery: "I am Jan Wade - Beginnings", an interview with Jan Wade.
https://youtu.be/JbW0rEXiMoc
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