In wake of billboard controversy, Capture Photography Festival and Vancouver Art Gallery host discussion on role of public art April 24
Diana Freundl, Mara Gladstone, James Lingwood, and Emmy Lee Wall explore the issues around the removal of Steven Shearer’s images
One of the billboard images on the Arbutus Greenway that was covered up. Photo by Kim Spencer-Nairn, via @capturephotofest
Clockwise from top, Diana Freundl, James Lingwood, Mara Gladstone, and Emmy Lee Wall. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography
The Vancouver Art Gallery and Capture Photography Festival present The Role of Public Art: A Panel Discussion with Diana Freundl, Mara Gladstone, James Lingwood, and Emmy Lee Wall on April 24 at noon
EARLIER THIS MONTH, Steven Shearer’s images of people sleeping, erected on large-scale billboards as part of the Capture Photography Festival, caused enough outcry that sponsors Pattison Outdoor covered them up.
They had only shown for two days of an exhibit that had been intended to run through May along the West Side walking and cycling corridor called the Arbutus Greenway.
In response to the incident, Capture is hosting a panel discussion that promises to be thought-provoking. It features VAG interim chief curator and associate director Diana Freundl, Desert X director of public programs and interpretation Mara Gladstone, Artangel codirector James Lingwood, and Capture executive director Emmy Lee Wall to talk about the questions around public art that the removal of the images provoked.
The controversy erupted when people mistook the images for those of dead people and complained they hit too close to opioid crisis the city has seen exacerbated by the pandemic. In fact, Shearer culls his images of sleeping people from the internet, making a statement about who is watching us, and where, in our most private, vulnerable, and exposed moments. They are intended to be uncomfortable—but how much discomfort can people handle in a public place?
Among other difficult topics the panel intends to tackle: how to balance individuals’ concerns with artistic freedom, the ways to engage in meaningful, constructive dialogue around images that make us uncomfortable, and the methods of making contemporary art more accessible to those who might not regularly engage with it.
The online talk, sponsored by the Audain Foundation, is free, but you have to preregister for a link.
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