Krazy! is as Krazy! does

A few years ago I made a couple trips to the Hermitage Museum while in St. Petersburg, Russia. Entire galleries within are each dedicated to one master. A gallery for Renoir, a gallery for Matisse, a gallery for Picasso… it's pretty amazing. So last summer when the Vancouver Art Gallery presented its highly anticipated show From Monet to Dali, I was pretty stoked to check it out because my then-recently discovered regard for fine art needed a fix.

Imagine my surprise upon learning this year's really big show at the Vancouver Art Gallery is as much a collection of European modernist art as Wreck Beach is nature's runway for lumberjackets, cowichan sweaters and Ugg's.

This year's show is:
KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art

("My, what a long title you have")...

I finally got a chance to get over there and check it out. It definitely ain't no collection of paintings and sculptures by guys with last names built to adorn the hard covers of coffee table books. Instead it offers something completely different, totally new and, I think, pretty darn fun for Vancouver…

Now, really… when was the last time you sat down at a table top PacMan game and played doubles with a competitive pal? The instantaneous nature of forming an addiction to power pellets is astonishing and all-consuming.

But that's not all the KRAZY! has to offer. No, siree. There's modern and contemporary comic displays, manga, anime, graphic novels, sketchbooks, storyboards, animation cels, films and video. You can even sit down and create your own masterpiece once the inspiration surrounding you proves futile to resist. Just like what happened to these pretty girls, Vikki and Vivian…

I found KRAZY! to be eye-catching, yet not entirely awash in color. The curious aspect of my imagination was very intrigued by what was around each corner; ranging from early 20th century comics...

...to a mid-80's Super Nintendo Entertainment System with a Super Mario World game cartridge...

If the calendar age of some of the works in KRAZY! didn't prove to occasionally rival the age of the building they're found in, it would be an almost defiant notion to curate essentially tech and youth-oriented pop cultural icons in a space like the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The building itself turned 100 a couple years ago and is the former BC provincial courthouse. On the contrary, PacMan hit the market only in 1980 (the same year as CNN, The Empire Strikes Back and Who Shot J.R.?).

Other than this summer, the Vancouver Art Gallery is generally filled with fairly traditional classic temporary and permanent collections by Carr, Warhol, Kahlo and O'Keefe.

All told, I really responded to KRAZY! and definitely plan to go again (yeah, I know how that sounds).

And if you like to get interactive with your art in Vancouver, do like the locals do and go a little crazy for art's sake...

P.S. Her name is Nicole. Yes, she is my friend. No, surprisingly the exhibit was not named in her honour.