Slow down and chill out. Get laid back and take a deep breath. Make a painting about slowing, chilling & laying back. That’s what these eight artists have done - making work that is lost in time somewhere between the past and the present, between leisure and culture, and in one case very much between death and life. The only way to save British Columbia is to slow it down, even return to how it used to be, back to before daily crises and daily assaults on culture. The SFU Gallery (and you) are lucky to have these models of contemplative living all gathered together in one place, on scenic Burnaby Mountain.

Taken as a whole, this exhibition posits a partial theory of leisure: Ron den Daas and Rebecca Brewer are at the beach; Heather Passmore’s people have had too much of life; Colleen Heslin’s characters are reading J.D. Salinger and Damian Moppett’s working on his toe nails; Neil Wedman’s people are taking time for a dance, Ben Reeves’ for a smoke, and Gary Pearson’s for a latte or a glass of wine.

Curated by Bill Jeffries.

Opening Reception: Friday October 30, 7 to 9pm.
SFU Burnaby

Taking a Deep Breath: a panel discussion with four of the artists in the show. Tuesday November 17, 7pm. Room 1600 SFU Vancouver, 515 W. Hastings Street.

Gary Pearson, Come Back Later, 2007. Oil on canvas, 204 X 193 cm.