“Dance beneath a ceramic sky as sculptures take shape?”

Hmmm…

“Turn your whispered observations into a choral anthem?”

Okay….

“Build West Coast Modernism… one LEGO brick at a time?”

Huh?

Jaysuits, if you thought our city’s creative pulse peaked during Art Incognito at the Beaumont, hold onto your paintbrushes. On Saturday, May 24, 2025, the Vancouver Art Gallery is morphing downtown into a radical playground. 

A cultural heist, a night where you become co-conspirators in bending art’s rules. Think: durational sculptures shaped live by Wei Cheng’s hands, DJ sets that warp time, and LEGO lounges where Douglas Coupland dares you to rebuild Vancouver’s architectural legacy.

TICKETS HERE!

As always, before we disappear into this wormhole of sculptures, Performance Art, and midnight confetti, (drinks in hand ofcourse), here’s your Jaysuit Cheat Sheet for the city’s most anticipated creative blowout.

✨Vancouver’s Art Goes Supernova✨

It’s our very own Saturday Night Fever. A quick-fire guide to the chaos:

The Jaysuit Cheat Sheet

🏺THE ART: Where Clay Gets Dangerous🏺

Two groundbreaking exhibits debuts at the party before their official openings:

• Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head – Shigeru Otani
  The Japanese artist’s North American debut transforms the gallery into a haunted forest. Ceramic creatures; some born from BC driftwood during his Deer Lake residency, others forged on Japan’s Awaji Island, lurk in shadowy installations. Cracked, textured pieces that’ll feel alive.

• Written in Clay: From the John David Lawrence Collection
  A 200-piece journey through BC’s ceramic underground, from 1930s functional mugs to ’90s anarchist sculptures. Every work bears hidden artist stamps, highlighting important figures whose legacies have had rippling effects throughout the broader field of ceramic arts in BC. 

Bonus: Vancouver’s patron saint of postmodernism, Douglas Coupland, curates a provocative dialogue between his work and a seminal Roy Lichtenstein piece from the Gallery’s collection. This sixth installment of the Gallery’s artist-curated series promises to reveal unexpected connections between pop art’s bold graphics and West Coast conceptualism

🎼THE PERFORMANCES: Controlled Anarchy🎼

Set to becomeing a living art lab from 8 PM – 11:30 PM:

• Town Choir (Theatre Replacement) – (8:45 & 9:30 PM)
  Writers transcribe crowd chatter in real time; a choir belts it back as epic ballads. Your muttered “Rain again? Classic.” becomes a four-partharmony.

Witness the magic as writers type real-time observations of the event, which a choir instantly transforms into choral declarations. Conceived by Maiko Yamamoto and James Long, with music by Robbie Blake, this performance turns promises to turn the everyday into the extraordinary.

• LEGO Lounge – Douglas Coupland and Vancouver’s Adult LEGO Fanatics (yes, that’s a real coven) are turning West Coast Modernism into a blocky free-for-all. Rebuild the Vancouver Special as a neon-pink monstrosity. Topple a glass condo tower with a LEGO heron. This is urban planning as satire, and Coupland’s smirk is the cherry on top. 
• Bonus: Sip wine while debating whether LEGO counts as high art. (Spoiler: It does now.)

• Rooftop DJ/VJ Set – Ephemeral Objects’
  Glitchy visuals sync with basslines that rattle your molars. Head to the Rooftop Pavilion for a multisensory experience blending ambient textures, driving rhythms, and unexpected sonic layers.

Her signature style blends:

• Ambient field recordings from urban landscapes
• Pulsing rhythms that mirror the city’s heartbeat
• Projection-mapped visuals responding to the architecture
• Last call at the rooftop bar: 11 PM sharp

So let the sweeping downtown views and transportive soundscape move both your body and imagination.

• Live Ceramic Sculpting – Wei Cheng – (7–11 PM)
  Watch this avant garde sculptor morph an abstract blob into acrumbling monument, Vancouver’s housing crisis in wet earth.

Pro Tip: Premium ticket holders get in at 7 PM to witness the chaos before the masses arrive at 8 PM. Members enter at 7:30 PM—just early enough to snag a drink before the choir starts roasting attendees.

Throughout the Gallery:

Because why should art stay still?

• Eric Cheung’s Dance Performance (times vary)
  Unexpected movements to erupt in random corners.

Outside on Robson Street:

• Town Choir Encore (7:45 PM)
  Because even pedestrians deserve to have their mundane thoughts turned into art.

🎟️THE NITTY GRITTY: Your Ticket to the Rebellion🎟️

Jaysuits, choose your fighter:

• Standard Ticket ($50): Doors at 8 PM, one free drink, all-access chaos
• Ideas Member ($35): Same perks, plus warm fuzzies for supporting local art
• Experiences Member (Free): Early entry at 7:30 PM and bragging rights
• Artist Circle (Free +1): VIP treatment because you’ve earned it

Pro Move: Spring for premium access at 7 PM to watch Wei Cheng’s sculpture take its first breath before the crowds descend.

Your move, Vancouver. Will you watch from the sidelines, or dive into the wet clay and neon-brick chaos?

🔥 #ArtPartyOrBust 🔥

Presented as part of the Gallery’s 2025 Asian Heritage Month programming through the Centre for Global Asias

©Vancouver Art Gallery 2019

The Vancouver Art Gallery is a not-for-profit organization supported by its members, individual donors, corporate funders, foundations, the City of Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.