It's time to drop the paintbrushs and have ourselves a splatter fight.
Art Battle is more genteel than an NHL tilly, but it's a painter's donnybrook nonetheless, and the audience gets to watch these gladiators of colour in their Roman coliseum at Hubspace.
Twelve of the area's best fine arts painters will sketch it out for supremacy on Sept. 28.
"It gives us a way to showcase our local artists in an interesting way that challenges them and excites the audience," said Lisa Redpath of the Community Arts Council (CAC), the host of this annual wonderwar.
It is a revelation to see how each painter handles the pressure of an audience watching them work, the stress of the clock (each round is 20 minutes), and the spirit of competition. It's one of the few times any artist operates under conditions more like that of an athlete's.
"For the artists, they have to come up with ways of creating images under the gun," said Redpath. "This year we have changed the size of the canvas to 20-by-30 so that's just to throw a wrench into it. It is on them to make colour choices and image choices that will engage the audience and get them votes."
Three rounds of four artists will square off, with the audience picking one winner to advance to the finals. A wild card artist will also emerge from the votes to join them in the final four.
All the paintings will be auctioned off with the artist keeping half the proceeds and the Community Arts Council keeping half, so it is a mutual fundraiser for all involved.
"That creation made in the moment, I think, increases the value of the art," said Manmeet Kaur, in her first year of working for the arts council and also a relatively new arrival in Canada from India where she grew up in an artistically active family well known for fine arts in their home city of Patiala.
"It increases the value of the art process, as well, within the community. You get to see the brush strokes, the paint-overs, the images that seem like nothing for awhile then suddenly everything becomes clear at the end."
Harsh Kaur, her sister, will be one of this year's competitors. It's her first art battle.
Other first-time competitors include Perry Melenka, Jordan Kelly, Lance Hanes and Kyla Christy. Veterans of past art battles coming back for another try include Kat Valcourt, Erin Stagg, Mandy Paavola, Darlene Nicoletti, Audrey McKinnon, last year's wildcard winner Michael Doyle, and previous winner Carla Joseph.
The pulsing music will be once again provided by DJ Rubytrout.
"Audiences love to see things created, art in process is very interesting, and these added pressures make it even more engaging, for the artists and the audiences," said Redpath. "This is a really great way to get the names of our artists out into the community, introduce emerging artists and show the commitment of veteran artists. It's a unique event so I hope people come out to feel all the emotions of it as well as see the amazing images our local artists are capable of under these challenging, exciting circumstances."
Art Battle 2018 happens at
Hubspace on Sept. 28 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets to get in, watch and vote are $10 each. The winner gets a prize package that includes entry into the B.C. provincial art battle competition in Vancouver.
