A Taste of Asia - Richmond Exploration

1.    Canada Line, Aberdeen Station

From the Canada Line “Aberdeen Station” walk westbound along Cambie Road towards River Road crossing over the railway line. “Water #10” is located at the corner of Cambie and River Road.

Water #10 (Vancouver Biennale)
Jun Ren (China), Stainless steel

Jun Ren draws his inspiration from pure forms, liquid water or mercury stopped in motion to reveal its shape as a drop or spill caught in the air.  Weighing tons with no hard edges, the form appears light and fluid.  Ren represents the energy and opportunity of the ‘New China’, he has become a respected sculptor of monumental and historical sculpture with works spanning cities throughout China. His older work embodies a spirit of heroism that reflects the political, economic, cultural and historical characteristics and contradictions that flow through this time of great transition in Chinese society

From No. 3 Road facing north, turn right on Cambie Road (westbound) then right (southbound) on Hazelbridge Way to arrive at the Aberdeen Centre.  Aberdeen Centre was designed as a one-stop shopping with Asian-themed retail stores, herbal tea shops, restaurants and entertainment. A totally new concept in early 1990s this centre was built to meet the needs of growing numbers of Asian immigrants in Richmond.   The mall was named after a Hong Kong's famous tourist harbour - Aberdeen.  Soon other developers followed the concept and the area around the Aberdeen Centre has developed into the "Aberdeen District". You can get a taste of Asia going through the shops inside the mall which range from tea merchant to herbal medicines, music CDs and book stores, fashion and jewelers. Food abounds! Richmond has more than 400 Asian restaurants serving cuisines from different Asian countries.  

Aberdeen Centre Restaurants - You can choose to have a casual meal in the food court or an Asian culinary experience at one of restaurants within the mall. Some eateries you may want to check out: Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle, Fisherman’s Terrace Seafood Restaurant, Guu, Tropika Malaysian and Thai Cuisine

Pixel (Private Development)
Bing Thom, Chris Doray & Stephanie Forsythe (Canada), glass

“Pixel” is a permanent part of the Aberdeen Centre. It defines the buildings form and expression.  The glass mural is an essential device in anchoring the building to its context and in making relationships between interior and exterior.  The composition of glass panels works with the functional requirements of retail yet transcends this purpose to become a work of art that poetically composes the colours and movements of the surrounding environment, celebrating the daily life it supports.  Glass is used to create a play of light, colour and transparency. It forms pixelated patterns of movement along the undulating curves of the elevation.  This extensive glass mural, a projection screen for light and motion, expresses and captures the dynamic nature of the activities within the Centre and the ever-changing movement of the streets and weather.  One needs to move around the building and through it to experience the entire art piece and its interplay with a constantly changing environment.  Pixel fluctuates between being a fixed and dynamic object somewhat like a cinematic experience. (Source: Public Art , City of Richmond)

Loco-Foco Motto has now been moved to Surrey Art Gallery as part of the In-Transition - New Art from India" exhibition. This exhibition is now closed. From May to November, 2010, Loco-Foco-Motto hanging above the Central Atrium of Aberdeen Centre is a collection of elaborate chandeliers created entirely out of unlighted matchsticks. The detailed construction took place at Aberdeen Centre over a three weeks period in May 2010.

Loco-Foco-Motto (Vancouver Biennale)
Hema Upadhyay (India), Matchsticks

The name of the artwork, “Loco-Foco-Motto” means self-lightening when in contact with a certain chemical.  Chandeliers, often ornate, with dozens of lamps and intricately cut crystal prisms, have traditionally symbolized wealth and status, using a material that is highly flammable, Hema creates an environment of anxiety, tension and danger. The artist often places shadows on the floor and wall underneath the chandeliers; depictions of herself posing as someone who possesses these objects of rank.  The fragile structure is inspired by the artist’s life in Mumbai, the idea of “light of hope” contained within a violent and fragile environment.

Next To:  Canada Line, Lansdowne Station on No. 3 Road
Distance: 1.3 Km/2 miles (15-min walk)
Direction: From Aberdeen Centre, follow along Hazelbridge Way in southwest direction towards Browngate Road jog right and then turn left on No. 3 Road (southbound) and you will see the next sculpture …  

2.    Canada Line, Lansdowne Station 

This Polyester resin & iron sculpture, Cabeza Vainilla, Cabeza Cordora, Cabeza Chiapas by Javier Marin (Mexico) has been de-installed as the Vancouver Biennale 2009-2011 exhibition wraps up.

The gigantic heads of polyester resin and iron appear as if rendered in clay. They are the color of the earth, terracotta, the red clay of the earth, a material with special significance to many cultures. They suggest remnants or fragments of some ancient monument to unknown heroes. The forms look like they were dragged through the streets at some distant time, brutalized and left to rest or be mused upon.  The realistically rendered severed heads retain their dignity and emit as sense of history, suggesting both strength and decay. They wear the mantle and dress of another time; maybe Conquistadores, Aztecs or Mayas or the faces of Marin’s native Mexico, yet all are shaped in the style of Spanish Baroque sculpture.
Javier Marín was born in Uruapan, in the Michoacan region of Mexico. He is one of the foremost Mexican figurative sculptors whose work has been exhibited in Mexico City, Madrid, Paris, Milan and Venice.

Next To:   Alderbridge Way at Elmbridge Way
Distance: .75 km/1.2 miles (9-min walk)
Direction:  Head west on Lansdowne Road, turn slightly right at Minoru Boulevard and left to get back on Lansdowne Road. Finally turn left at Alderbridge Way and you will not miss this sculpture.

3.    Alderbridge Way at Elmbridge Way

This  stainless steel sculpture Miss Mao by Gao Brother (China) has now been de-installed as the Vancouver Biennale 2009-2011 exhibition concludes.

Often referred to as” cynical realism”, this super-sized stainless steel sculpture features two iconic figures: a diminutive Miss Mao and monumental Vladimir Lenin, the Russian revolutionary whose monumental ideas profoundly influenced Chinese political history. The Gao Brothers are reflective of the ‘new wave’ of post-revolutionary artists working in China today. This potentially controversial, super-sized stainless steel sculpture is part of a “Miss Mao“ series produced by the Gao Brothers. This sculpture can be “read” as a political narrative, as well as a reflection on the current nostalgic attitude toward Mao. The position and scale of the two figures simultaneously questions and ridicules their relative positions in an undeniable communist commentary. The Gao Brothers have consciously chosen to play the role of social critic and therefore walk a careful line in terms of politics. The Beijing authorities, after seeing works on display in the Gao Brother studio exhibition in 2008 demanded that they cover up the Miss Mao sculptures. The Gao brothers now live and work in Beijing, where they have been collaborating since the mid-1980’s.

Next To:   Richmond Oval
Distance: .85 km/1.5 miles (10-min walk)
Direction: Head west on Elmbridge Way toward Gilbert Road, turn right at Hollybridge Way and then left on River Road.  Richmond Oval will be on the right.                          

4.    Richmond Oval

The Richmond Oval was the host venue for the speed skating events during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic.  It was built for a cost of $178 million using pine beetle wood for the roof.  The entire facility is being redeveloped into a community sports complex.

Speed Skater (City of Richmond)
Cory Fuhr (Canada)

Perched above the Richmond Olympic Oval's front entrance lobby, Speed Skater takes flight. This life-sized anthoromorphic transformation of machines and technology fuses classical form with futuristic medium and composition. The speed skater arrested in motion captures the essence of the Oval public art theme: flow, flight and fusion.

Buttress Runnels (City of Richmond)
Susan Point (Coast Salish, Canada)

The artwork forms the face of the cast concrete runnels at the Richmond Skating Oval.  Water run-off from the roof flows down the face of the runnels and is collected in the storm water retention pond below. The water is then reused for irrigation and facility functions.
The Fraser River was central to the Sto:lo, whose name in Salish means “People of the River”.  The river had economic, social and spiritual meaning to the Coast Salish peoples; This artwork is a dedication to the Fraser River, on whose shores the artist’s people have lived and prospered for countless generations.   The artwork incorporates a series of positive and negative elements, which (when rendered in three dimensional form) allow water to flow down the face of the runnel – the artwork, like the river itself, will change with the seasons.  Each design includes the heron/crane as a central image – a symbol used by the City of Richmond.  The third element in the design depicts contemporary salmon, which symbolically represents the delta.  The salmon populating the river were a form of wealth, sustenance for our peoples, and used in trade with other tribes.  The imagery reflects the land, sea and sky - and the connections between all forms of life and the earth, which we inhabit.

Water Sky Garden (City of Richmond)
Janet Echelman (USA)

Water Sky Garden is a stunning integrated public art work designed for the site by Janet Echelman, in collaboration with landscape architects and architects.  Water Sky Garden is a contemplative space that encourages participants to linger and experience an all-encompassing art environment.  A bridge inspired by the Chinese Dragon Dance meanders through shallow ponds on the eastern side of the Oval in  Water Sky Gardens.  The “sky lanterns” provide a new visual experience, putting art in the sky. Made of netted material, they are transparent and integrate with the landscape they inhabit, allowing viewers to look at them and through them at the same time. At night, they glow like lanterns, though with a rippled effect produced by the fact that the lighting has been submerged underwater.  This project takes the run-off water from the Olympic Oval’s 5-acre roof and cleans it through its aerating fountains and plant selection.

Next To:  Minoru Park
Distance: 2 Km/3.5 miles (24-min walk)
Direction: Head northeast on River Road towards Hollybridge Way. Turn right on Hollybridge Way (southbound) and turn left on Elmbridge Way (eastbound) and right on Minoru Boulevard (southbound) and alight right to stay on Minoru Boulevard and right again to arrive at Minoru Park.  

OR take Bus C94. Walk in northeast direction on River Road towards Hollybridge Way. Turn left on Hollybridge Way (northbound) to get to C94 Brighouse Station (Stop ID: 61344) to arrive at Minoru Gate (Stop ID: 61349) – a 10-minute ride.

5.    Minoru Park

Minoru Park is a park located on the site of a former horse-racing track and airstrip.  The area is home to the Minoru Arenas, Minoru Track, Minoru Aquatic Centre and Richmond Cultural Centre (including the Richmond Public Library's main branch, Richmond Art Gallery and Richmond Museum. The “Doors of Knowledge” is located at 6651 Minoru Boulevard which is opposite the RCMP Building and at the south side of the Cultural Centre. It is just north of the intersection of Minoru Boulevard and Granville Avenue.

This painted aluminum sculpture, Doors of Knowledge by Patrick Hughes (UK) will be de-installed in January, 2012 as the Vancouver Biennale exhibition wraps up.

The reverse perspective of Doors of Knowledge by British artist Patrick Hughes, visually forces the viewer to question our ingrained habits of visual perception, the way that our visual reading of the world affects how we relate to the world around us. The painted aluminum doors swing open or shut, gradually revealing or concealing the natural landscape beyond them. On the opposite side of the doors are bookshelves with painted images of books on the shelves. Traditionally a painter, Patrick Hughes paintings have an illustrative quality that is flat and graphic. The work is interactive in its design by creating an optical illusion that the viewer must participate in, in order to “read” it. Hughes presents the viewer with a puzzle – what is real and how are the painted visual elements fooling my sense of perception? When standing in front of the work, the perceived doors and openings rendered in a pop out surface, confuse the eye. Beyond the doors sits a vacant and empty landscape.

Next Stop: Canada Line Brighouse Station
Distance:  .8 Km/1.3 miles (10-min walk)
Direction:  Head east towards Minoru Boulevard and turn left at Minoru. Turn right toward Saba Road, Turn left toward Saba Road and right on No. 3 Road.

6.    Canada Line – Brighouse Station

Mounted on the glass wall outside the Brighouse station is the 6-panel installation “Homage to Parenthood” from a local artist, Toni Latour.  You can catch Canada Line Skytrain northbound from this station to return to Vancouver.

Homage to Parenthood (Vancouver Biennale)
Toni Latour (Canada)

“Homage to Parenthood” is a 6 panel public art installation by Toni Latour.  Facing street level passers-by, the panels depict 100 clichés, idioms and sayings in a rainbow of colours.  The piece is inspired by the artist's recently deceased father, who used several of these lines as a means of creating levity and teaching his children about the world.
This work was originally a 15 foot long print, but was adapted for installation at Brighouse Skytrain station, making it a site-specific work of art.  

Extension
Option 1:    Vancouver International Airport

Transfer to the Canada Line Airport Line from Richmond Bridgeport Station.  Go downstairs after you get off at the Airport Station. “Arriving Home” is located outside the Vancouver International Terminal on the arrival level.

Arriving Home (Vancouver Biennale)
Dennis Oppenheim (USA), Plexiglass, steel

Departure and arrival, as well as the freedom and the exhilaration of travel and mobility are crystallized in the rhythmic movement in this circular sculpture created by one of the most Influential, innovative and respected artists working today.  His two installations in the 2005-2007 Vancouver Biennale, ‘Device to Root Out Evil’ and ‘Engagement’ were two of the most popular and controversial installations. The circular form of “Arriving Home” suggests movement and mimics the rhythms of traveling. Perfectly positioned at the YVR International Airport arrivals terminal, a site of “Transit-ion”, the theme of the 2009-2011 Vancouver Biennale, the sculpture suggests the freedom and the exhilaration of travel and mobility. The sculpture stands as a greeting to travelers as they come and go. Constructed out of steel and lexan acrylic, the spiraling iridescent multi-coloured form looks alive and as though it is about to spin and move through space. 

Take the Canada Line northbound to return to Vancouver.

Option 2:    (Southbound) Steveston Village

From Canada Line – Brighouse Station walk for 2 minutes heading south on No. 3 Road toward Cook Road, turn left at Cook to arrive at the Brighouse Station Bay 5 bus stop (Stop ID: 56480).  
Take Bus 402 Two Road to arrive at WB Chatham St. NS 2 Avenue (Stop ID: 56517) – it will take about 18 minutes.
Head west on Chatham Street toward 2nd Avenue, turn left at 2nd Avenue and turn left at Bayview Street. This is only a 4-minute walk.

Down on the southwestern shore of Richmond sits the historic Steveston Village, a once-boisterous frontier seaport and principal port on the Fraser River, founded in 1880 by William Herbert Steves.  At the turn of the twentieth century, Steveston was the busiest fishing port in the world, with fifteen salmon canneries, six hotels, numerous saloons and gambling dens, and up to fourteen windjammers simultaneously loading canned salmon for world markets. Now over 100 years old, Steveston has evolved into a picturesque working fishing village.  Here you can explore the charm of its national historic sights such as the Britannia Heritage Shipyard and the Gulf of Georgia Cannery. Or stroll along the boardwalk to get a glimpse of the working fishing village. Steveston Village might look familiar, since it’s been the set for several movies and television series, such as The 6th Day, X-Files, Smallville, and Stargate SG-1. (Source: Tourism Richmond)

Next To:  Garry Point
Distance: 1.0 km/1.6 miles (10-min walk)
Direction: Head west on Bayview Street toward 2nd Ave. Turn right turns into Third Ave. Turn left at Chatham Street. Turn left at 7th Ave.

A visit to Steveston is not complete without having fish and chips.  Pajo's (pronounced Pãjos) was founded in 1985 named after its founders, Patricia and Joan.  Pajo's was originally attached to "A" wharf, floating in the Steveston Harbour mere meters from where it sits today. Garry Point is one of its 4 locations.

Pajo’s Fish and Chips (Garry Point), 12771 7th Avenue, Richmond. Their fish is of the more lightly battered variety served with a large quantity of crispy french fries in a paper cone that can be place in the round holes in the tables.

 “Wind Waves” is located at Garry Point Park, West of Steveston Village. Smooth walking and biking trails offer wonderful sweeping views of Steveston's fishing harbour and the Gulf Islands, set amongst pastoral wildflower meadows and pale sandy beaches.

This popular painted bronze sculpture, Wind Waves by Yvonne Domenge (Mexico) will be de-installed in February, 2012 as the Vancouver Biennale exhibition wraps up.

This intense red circular form of rhythmic and undulating curves and movement is reflective of the oceans waves within a contained form. Selected by the Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City to represent Mexico, this work was created specifically for the Vancouver Biennale and a beach promontory. Much of the work of Mexican sculptor Yvonne Domenge references nature, architecture and a fascination with form and geometry. In this intense red circular form Domenge provides us with an elegant decorative form full of curves and movement. The circular form is rhythmic and undulating creating the sense of a waving motion within a contained form.

Option 3:  Vancouver Biennale Downtown & Yaletown Public Art
Get off at the Canada Line “Yaletown Station”.  Follow the self-guided walk from the “Vancouver Biennale Downtown & Yaletown Public Art” starting with Joe Sola’s new media work at the station and explore Yaletown and the False Creek Shoreline.

Author:  Katherine Tong
Editor:   Michael and Ingunn Kemble

The information and opinions in this document represents solely the views of the author and are not intended as a recommendation to purchase any products or use of any services.