On Thursday August 12, 2010 at Gallery Gachet, SKin was IN.
Founded in Vancouver in 1992, Gallery Gachet is a unique collaborative gallery that strives to provide a focal point for dialogue amongst artists. Located at 88 East Cordova Street, Vancouver’s infamous East Side provided an eclectic backdrop for this event.
The SKin is IN exhibit was a dynamic collection of local artists painting on both human skin and canvas. The artists showcased their pieces for purchase and graced the guests with personalized, complementary art pieces, on their skin! Sponsored by Gallery Gachet, Kevan Seng of Capulet Art participated making the art showcased accessible to everyone in the form of posters and art cards. This was an amazing night where the public was given the opportunity to meet with the artists and witness the creative processes of each.
As the DJ began spinning and the drinks began flowing, the space transformed into a living, breathing hub of creativity. In center stage stood Amy Louise. Donning nothing but a painted black bikini, her alabaster skin became the canvas for the creative collective that began with a few mere strokes. By the end of the evening, Amy was a veritable mélange of colors courtesy of Monika Bilchar, J Peachy and Sarazen Brooks.
Special thanks to Monika Bilchar of MAB Ventures Inc. and J Peachy, without whom, the event wouldn’t have happened. It was a truly revealing evening.
I bought the world’s smallest and easiest FLIP camcorder ($169 at Best Buy) to share instant videos online on TheArtParty.org (Artistrun.org), YouTube and Facebook. With the mini tripod ($9.99 at Best Buy), it was extremely easy to shoot and I was pleasantly surprised with the internal mic for sound quality, considering the speaker, Kevan Seng was talking over the background DJ music. For my first video news, I shot some clips at SKin is IN at Gallery Gachet.
Make and Break Arts Foundation and Gallery Gachet present “SKin is IN”
“A celebration of the human canvas” where ten local Vancouver artists painted live on both human skin and canvas, in addition to showcasing various pieces which will be available for purchase by attendees. Guests met with the artists and witnessed the creative process of painting, as well as receive a complimentary art piece on their own human skin.
Gallery Gachet is a unique artistic institution founded in Vancouver in 1992. Named after Vincent Van Gogh’s homeopathic doctor, Paul Gachet. Gallery Gachet strives to provide a focal point for dialogue amongst outsider/dissident artists. We aim to use the canvas of the outside work to educate and demystify the public on issues related to mental health and to advance the artistic discourse around these issues. We provide the artists informed by mental health issues with opportunities to exhibit, curate, perform, read, teach and to develop their leadership skills. Located at 88 East Cordova Street, close to the diverse populations that reside in Vancouver’s neighborhoods.
Monika Blichar, of MAB Ventures Inc. and Make and Break Arts Foundation, was the founder, curator, and coordinator of One World Art Show and Fundraiser held at Telus World of Science in Vancouver, BC on May 1, 2010. With over 650 guests and participants, the venue was filled with over 600 pieces of art from over 60 artists, live painters, fashion and jewelry designers, a body painting competition in addition to a live and silent auction. Proceeds from the silent and live auctions went to Safewater Nexus, a charity which has been dedicated to the rebuild in Haiti. In addition, Monika is the co-founder of The Golden Brush Painting Competion, the curator of the West End Art Krall 2011, and is also working with organizations such as Capulet Art and artistrun.org. Monika is comitted to making arts more available to the public and creating opportunities for artists to show and sell their work.
J Peachy is quickly becoming one of Canada’s foremost arts-based advocates for mental health. Peachy is active in his art practice and Mental Health advocacy, through a number of differ7:00ent mediums. As the creator and producer of Sound Therapy Radio, an Arts and Mental Health Radio Show broadcasting on CJSF 90.1 FM and on Vcommunity TV (Shaw), he calls himself a ‘Radio-Visual’ Artist. J Peachy combines social media and the arts in a unique way to get the message across. J is also a collective member at Gallery Gachet, an artist run center and a mental health advocacy Gallery, based in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. He is also part of the 2010 Stand up for Mental Health Class and was a feature performer at the Stanley Theatre in May 2010. Peachy is also a Team Leader with the Artist Alliance for Mental Health Canada, a National organization dedicated to creating change through Art. In addition, Peachy is an ambassador for two local Vancouver Arts organizations; ArtsConnect and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
