Denial hits West Van
Daniel Bombardier’s art career started painfully.
With three broken ribs and a dislocated sternum, his snowboard was collecting dust. Stuck in his Whistler apartment, the Ontarian needed a new hobby. That’s when he bought a computer.
Bombardier had drawn all his life. Before leaving on a Whistler visit which turned into a six-year stay, Bombardier delved into the graffiti world in Central Canada — with legal pieces still clinging to walls in Toronto and Windsor. He is also a prolific guerrilla-marketer, with more than 500,000 adhesive logos displaying his graffiti name DENIAL or “D3N!@L” around the world.
While living in B.C.’s snowy playground, he began to mix the two art forms with his newly acquired computer graphic skills — the result is edgy mixed-media work, with a subversive sense of humour.
“I like to keep it fun,” says Bombardier, who now lives back in Ontario. “To make people laugh. If you can make them laugh and think about an idea, that’s great.”
Ten days before the opening of the Harmony Art Festival’s Art Market, Bombardier will be packing 100 art pieces into a trailer and once again heading out west. He’s one of more than 60 artists featured in this new festival event.
On Friday, July 29, Argyle Avenue, between 14th and 16th streets, will host a select group of potters, jewelers, photographers and glassblowers. This portion of the festival will run for four days.
This market is a step away from the festival’s traditional small craft fair, says Katherine Tong, the festival’s visual arts coordinator. With artists coming from across Canada, judges had very strict criteria on who they admitted.
“There will be diversity in price and a diversity of material,” Tong says.
Visual arts are taking a bigger role in this year’s festival, she says. Besides the market, the festival has added an Artists Circle — an exhibition which features 10 artists over 10 days. The exhibition, which will be housed on the waterfront in a large tent east of 1564 Argyle Avenue, brings together some of the country’s top artists including Gordon Smith, B.C. Binning and Sylvia Tait. The free show is open from Friday, July 29, until Aug. 7, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, August 3, from 7 to 10 p.m. Famous Canadian artists Gordon Smith and Ian Wallace will be in attendance.
Throughout the festival, artist talks, demonstrations and workshops will be held at the Ferry Building Gallery. A 59-piece group art show of local talent also starts on Friday, July 29, at the Silk Purse, West Vancouver Memorial Library Gallery and Ferry Building Gallery. Artworks are for sale before and during the festival.
“We have a lot of things going on,” Tong says. “We want to make sure we have something for everybody.”
For more information visit www.harmonyarts.ca and click on the visual arts tab or call 604-925-7268.
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