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May 11, 2012
Smash re-imagined
New gallery offers more than exhibits.
OLGA LIVSHIN
Her mother was an artist; her father, an entrepreneur. All her life, Jennifer Abrams has been alternately drawn to one side or another of her heritage, until she found her niche – right in the middle. Together with her husband, well-known Vancouver artist 12 Midnite, she opened Smash Gallery of Modern Art in March 2012.
Abrams started out her career on the artistic side. “I went to fashion design school in Montreal,” she said. “But I’m terrible at sewing.” After fashion school, she painted for awhile, but that didn’t work out. “I stopped painting about 10 years ago,” she admitted. She also has owned a few small galleries, on and off, and worked for many years as an associate producer at CBC, both in TV and radio. Then, about two years ago, a tragedy occurred: her mother passed away, and Abrams took a break from everything.
“I looked into my soul and I asked myself, What do I want to do with my life? And I knew I wanted to have a space to promote creativity, a space to be happy and to share my happiness; a gallery where the artists would be happy. It was time to get back into the gallery business, but to do it our way.”
She and her husband rented a space on Clark Drive and went to work. “The place was a mess when we started,” Abrams recalled. The couple painted the walls of the main exhibition floor in white, but the mezzanine has become their sanctuary: funky and charming, its floor covered from wall to wall with laminated comic book pages. “It took me five days to finish this floor,” she said. “Fortunately, we have a huge collection of comics.”
They called their young art space Smash Gallery of Modern Art, the same name as the gallery 12 Midnite owned Downtown in the 1990s. “But it was a much larger space than we have here,” Abrams said.
The new incarnation of Smash is not only an exhibition space, it’s also a design business, producing custom designs for TV shows and offering custom neon sign rentals.
“We represent nine artists on a continuous basis, but we’ll also have some touring artists here,” Abrams explained. “Our artists specialize in painting, glass, furniture making, photography. We wanted to open this space for the art with an edge, not exactly your traditional, commercial gallery.”
The address of the gallery is unconventional too, but Abrams has huge hopes for it. “Lots of talented artists live in East Vancouver,” she noted. “This area is on the rise, and we wanted this gallery to be the space where artists and art lovers can come together. We had a tremendous response to our first two openings. Everybody is checking us out: art lovers, artists, lawyers and people from the academic world. It’s a great experience for any art buyer to meet and interact with the artists.”
She added: “The traditional galleries on Granville Street have a certain clientele, but what about the other 90 percent of the Vancouver population? Many are intimidated by commercial galleries and their prices. Here, we offer a variety of prices for all budgets. Everyone has four walls in their home, but most people don’t have anything on those walls except a TV. It has to change. Everyone should be able to afford art. When I started my art collection, I bought my first art piece for $5. It’s not the price that’s important, it’s the connection you feel to the piece.”
The current show at Smash is called Hip! Portraits of Cool. It’s a collection of black and white photos by Art Perry, representing 40 years of culture icons. Perry knew everyone he photographed; many were his friends. Poets and musicians, artists and songwriters, actors and dancers, they reside naturally on the walls of Smash.
“None of them posed for Perry’s photos,” Abrams said. His camera caught them as they laughed or talked, devoured chicken or rested after a performance. Every image – Dizzy Gillespie and Princess Diana, Rudolf Nureyev and Patti Smith, and many others – they all have a story. Touring the show felt like touring across the last four decades of Vancouver’s cultural history.
“I’m so fortunate to be here, to support these artists, to be surrounded by their art,” Abrams said. “I don’t notice the time and, every day, I’m happy.... An artist and an art dealer – it’s a collaboration. I don’t have a business without my artists. They create; I sell. Of course, some artists succeed without representation, especially now, when the Internet offers wide exposure, but not everyone is a good businessman. I’d rather my artists spend time creating, then the gallery becomes a supportive environment for everyone.”
Smash’s next show, its third, is called (r)Evolution #9, and it opens on May 25. To learn more, check out the gallery’s website, smashmodernart.com.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
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