reviewvancouver:Vancouver Art Gallery

French writer Edmond Huot de Goncourt once stated "A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world." I would think it’s pretty certain that there will be a lot of opinions, ridiculous and otherwise, heard around Vancouver Art Gallery current exposition, How Soon is Now and assistant curator Kathleen Ritter will likely welcome much of the controversy that this thought-provoking show might attract.

The title, borrowed from the 1984 song written by Morrissey about a guy unable to break out of his shyness is intended to evoke an immediacy in form and address that speaks to the present moment.

The show comprises of new work ranging from the aesthetic to the bizarre being produced by local artists, drawing from the breadth of artistic practice and concerns that motivate artists today.

How Soon is Now brings together divergent methods and praxises that include hand-built structures, a sound studio and areas that require social interaction. The show also incorporates an uncommon dynamic that has some exhibits randomly re-positioned within the exposition circuit.

Such is with the object entitled Holly Ward - a simple, though conceptually bizarre exhibit. A pile of common dirt that is intended to represesent "earth island."

The show's largest exhibit, curiously named The Office of Special Projects, had to be erected in situ by its creators, Cedric and Nathan Bomford. Its crude construction made from assorted scrap lumber resembles stadium bleachers.

How Soon is Now - Contemporary Art from Here continues until 3 May, 2009 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.