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Griffin Art Projects

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Griffin Art Projects

Griffin Art Projects is an art gallery space in North Vancouver that showcases contemporary art Griffin Art Projects is founded by the Freybe family.

Griffin Art Projects is an art gallery space located in North Vancouver that showcases contemporary art exhibitions, primarily from private collections. Inspired by the strength of private art collections in our region, Griffin Art Projects builds on the important role that collectors and contemporary artists play in our cultural landscape through exhibitions, events, and publications.

05/25/2026

On view until June 7 - Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection

In his primarily text-based practice, Glenn Ligon (born 1960) explores questions of language, race, sexuality, and identity in American history, often using found texts from writings by cultural figures such as James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison, and speech from cultural icons like the late stand-up comedian Richard Pryor. In Silver the Future #4, oil stick is pushed through a stencil to write text onto a silver canvas. The text in this image is from a joke by Richard Pryor whose caustic humour describes an all too familiar assertion which Ligon isolates on a silver background so as to heighten its potency.

Embodied Conversations features 40 works from the Montréal based Lillian and Billy Mauer collection and includes photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists such as by Lorraine O’Grady, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Huma Bhabha, Frank Bowling, Glenn Ligon and Annette Messager. The Mauers are often drawn to politically and socially engaged art as well as sculpture, which is evident in curator Lesley Johnstone’s careful selection of works.
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We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Glenn Ligon, Silver the Future #4, 2013. Acrylic and oil stick on canvas; 81.3 x 81.3 cm. Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection. © Glenn Ligon. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Thomas Dane Gallery.

Embodied Conversations, Installation view, 2026. Photo: Byron Dauncey

05/22/2026

Join us for the final guided tour of our current exhibition, Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection on May 24th at 1pm!

Led by our Young Canada Works Marketing and Public Programs Assistant, Margaret Browning this small group tour offers a closer look into select works from this internationally significant collection and the opportunity to ask questions and share your own thoughts and perceptions about this special collection!

The exhibition features 40 works from the Montréal based Mauer collection, which includes photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists such as by Lorraine O’Grady, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Huma Bhabha, Frank Bowling, Glenn Ligon and Annette Messager. Often drawn to politically and socially engaged art, this exhibition will present a selection of works which represent the breadth of the collection.

This exhibition will be on view until June 7th.
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We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Embodied Conversations, Tour, May 2026. Photo: Tim Chang

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #468, 2008. Chromogenic colour print; 70.3 x 54 in. Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection. Edition: 5/6 + 1 AP Cindy Sherman. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Angela Grauerholz. Les Invalides, 1989. Azo dye print. 47 x 64 in. Edition: 3/3. Angela Grauerholz. Courtesy of the artist.

05/21/2026

On view until June 7 - Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection

American artist Lorraine O’Grady (1934-2024) has worked across multiple mediums to create conceptual projects that interrogate issues of identity, class, gender, and social structure. Her work explores how people are defined in opposition to one another by opening up performative spaces that invite collaboration and connection. This selection of eight photographs, from a series of forty, documents a performance in which O’Grady created a float topped with a giant gilded frame and on the base of which was written “Art Is…” for Harlem’s African American Day Parade in September 1983. She tasked 15 young actors and dancers, dressed in white, with bringing gold frames to spectators, who enthusiastically partook in framing themselves for the camera. In this collective celebration, O’Grady offers the parade-goers a space in which they become the subject of the artwork, and because the photographs themselves were taken by onlookers, they also become the art makers. While the vast majority of the subjects of the photographs were African American, the inclusion of a white police officer broke down certain hierarchical boundaries, if only for a moment: “That’s right, that’s what art is, WE’re the art!”

The exhibition features 40 works from the Montréal based Mauer collection, which includes photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists. Often drawn to politically and socially engaged art, this exhibition presents a selection of works which represent the breadth of the collection.
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We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Lorraine O'Grady, Art Is. . . (Women in Crowd Framed), 1983/2009.
Lorraine O'Grady, Art Is. . . (Man with Rings and Child), 1983/2009.
Lorraine O'Grady, Art Is. . . (Nubians), 1983/2009.
Courtesy of the Lorraine O’Grady Trust and Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris, Mexico City). © 2025 Lorraine ’Grady/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Embodied Conversations, Installation view, 2026. Photo: Byron Dauncey

05/18/2026

On view until June 7 - Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection

Lorna Simpson (born 1960) considers the body as the locus where questions about the nature of representation, identity, gender and race concentrate. By appropriating imagery from vintage magazines such as Jet and Ebony, she explores representations of Black women, the context in which they arose, and how they exist in contemporary society. In the diptyque Outline, Simpson refuses portraiture, offering rather a rectangular arrangement of three braids of hair, and a woman who turns her back to the camera. Early ethnographic photography is alluded to here. The addition of texts (back, lash, bone, ground, ache and pain) in the form of office door labels complexifies the images, offering at once poetic and highly resonant historical references: back-lash, back-bone, back-pain. The artist is calling forth images of the abuse, suffering and exploitation of African-American men and women due to slavery, racism and sexism. Simpson’s figure stands strong however, presenting a stance of rebellion and resilience.

The exhibition features 40 works from the Montréal based Mauer collection, which includes photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists such as by Lorraine O’Grady, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Huma Bhabha, Frank Bowling, Glenn Ligon and Annette Messager. Often drawn to politically and socially engaged art, this exhibition presents a selection of works which represent the breadth of the collection.
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We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Lorna Simpson. Outline, 1990. 2 silver gelatin prints, 2 engraved plastic plaques. 49 x 84 in. Edition: 1/4 + 2 APs. © Lorna Simpson. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

Embodied Conversations, Installation views, 2026. Photo: Byron Dauncey

05/14/2026

On view until June 7 - Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection

Through video and photography, Iranian artist Shirin Neshat (born 1957) addresses the social, political and psychological dimensions of women's experience in contemporary Islamic societies. Profoundly affected by the revolution in Iran in 1990, which she experienced at a distance, from her home in New York, Passage is a series of photographs and a video of the same name. The video depicts a group of men carrying a body wrapped in white cloth across a beach; in the distance, a group of women veiled in black chadors dig a grave with their hands, while a child arranges a circle of stones. In this photograph we see the men dressed all in black on a beautiful shoreline against a bright blue sky. By contrasting the exquisite colour and overwhelming scale of the landscape with the stark ritual being carried out by the diminutive grouping of men, Neshat heightens the sense of loss, as well her sense of the injustice of the imposed separation of the women by Islamic religious practices.

The exhibition features 40 works from the Montréal based Mauer collection, which includes photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists such as by Lorraine O’Grady, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Huma Bhabha, Frank Bowling, Glenn Ligon and Annette Messager. Often drawn to politically and socially engaged art, this exhibition presents a selection of works which represent the breadth of the collection.
________

We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Shirin Neshat (b.1957), Passage series, 2001. Cibachrome print mounted on aluminum, 34 7/8 x 75 1/8 in. The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection. © Shirin Neshat. Image courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery.

Embodied Conversations, Installation view, 2026. Photo: Byron Dauncey

05/07/2026

Join us this summer for a unique exhibition experience featuring TRAPP PROJECTS at Griffin Art Projects! TRAPP PROJECTS was initiated by Patrik Andersson in 1997 as a curatorial platform on which to introduce local and international artists to as wide an audience as possible, while not being limited by the mandates of traditional exhibition spaces. Over the years, this project has led to collaborations with a wide range of people and spaces to highlight both emerging and established practices.

TRAPP PROJECTS at Griffin opens on June 19 from 6 - 8PM with the solo exhibition, Cameron Kerr: Collecting the Unconscious. Cameron Kerr is a Vancouver BC based artist working with sculpture, painting, photo-collage, and found-object assemblage to explore modernist forms and everyday imagery. Through new original works and curated selection of works from local private collections Cameron Kerr: Collecting the Unconscious proposes an alternative understanding of the choices we make, how artists create and how collectors collect.

The exhibition is curated by Andersson, operator of TRAPP since 1997 and Associate Professor in Critical + Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University.

Visit www.griffinartprojects.ca for more details.

We hope to see you there!

Cameron Kerr, Retinal Void (detail), 2025. Acrylic and Inkjet on Canvas, 24x18 inches. Edition of 1/3 (each unique). Collection of Maryon Adelaar. Image Courtesy of the artist.

Cameron Kerr, Ghost on Deck, 2015. Cedar, acrylic, 64 x 23 x 16 inches. Collection of Ian Penn & Sandy Whitehouse-Penn. Image Courtesy of the artist and Trapp Projects

05/06/2026

We are excited to announce our new bi-weekly Summer Sunday Tours led by our summer Young Canada Works Marketing and Public Programs Assistant, Margaret Browning!

Starting on Sunday, May 10th & May 24th, join us at 1PM for a free tour of Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection. These are the final weeks of this important show! The tours offer a dedicated look into this internationally significant collection.

Curated by Lesley Johnstone, the exhibition features 40 works from the Montréal based Mauer collection exhibited together for the first time. Featuring photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists such as Nan Goldin, Lorraine O’Grady, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, Huma Bhabha, Frank Bowling, Glenn Ligon and Annette Messager. Often drawn to politically and socially engaged art, the exhibition presents a selection of works which represent the breadth of the collection.

We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Slide one:
Embodied Conversations, 2026, Exhibition Tour. Photo: Jefferson Aladé

Slide two:
Margaret Browning, 2026, Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Photo: Quitzia Gonzalez Navarro

05/05/2026

Time to explore new music! As a response to our current exhibition, Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection, Jefferson Aladé, Griffin’s former YCW Curatorial and Marketing Assistant, curated a tracklist as a form of “responding to the idea that art is as much a revelatory experience as an everyday one.” Aladé is also a recent MDes graduate of ECUAD and Principal and Creative Director of Joma Studios (https://jomastudios.ca/).

On February 22, Griffin hosted two Embodied Conversations Listening Sessions led by Aladé. Listeners were invited to share their own music and listen to a curated tracklist on a hi-fi soundsystem in collaboration with Space Lab, Vancouver’s premier shop for audio & vintage home decor. The result is an incredible selection of historical, classic and contemporary sounds.

Although the event is over, the complete tracklist from the afternoon sessions is the perfect addition for a walk through of our exhibition or to listen to while you enjoy your Sunday morning coffee! Check out the playlists on our website:

https://www.griffinartprojects.ca/events/embodied-conversations-listening-sessions

We also encourage you to join Jefferson for more sensational listening sessions through The Ryze . A platform and playground created for collective listening, The Ryze creates listening sessions, DJ programs, sonic installations, and curatorial projects that foreground global artists and sound cultures.

We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Slide one and two : Embodied Conversations Listening Sessions, February 22, 2026, Griffin Art Projects. Photo: Cindy XuJefferson Aladé

Slide three: Embodied Conversations Listening Sessions, February 22, 2026. Griffin Art Projects
Photo: Cindy Xu

05/04/2026

Join us in welcoming our summer Young Canada Works Marketing and Public Programs Assistant, Margaret Browning!

Margaret is a print and sculpture artist based in Vancouver, BC. She is a 2026 Emily Carr University of Art and Design graduate with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and a minor in
curatorial studies. She transferred from College of New Caledonia in 2022 where she received a Certificate of Fine Arts in her hometown Prince George. With an interest in archival studies and community spaces, Margaret is exploring the documentation and collection of urban ephemera through her artistic practice.

Stop by on May 10th and 24th at 1pm for a tour led by Margaret of our current exhibition, Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection.

Margaret Browning printing in the Emily Carr University of Art and Design relief and etching studio
Photo: Perrin Grauer

05/03/2026

On view until June 7 - Embodied Conversations: The Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection

American artist Eric N. Mack locates his work in the expanded field of painting, utilizing diverse materials to create richly layered compositions that combine elements of painting and sculpture. (Easter) The Spring/The Holy Ground is a moving blanket collaged with found text and drawings, painted and glued onto the blanket to create a complex visual field of interrelated references. The found texts offer conceptual insights into Mack's work. One is a press release for an exhibition of work by Alvin Baltrop (1938-2004), who took intimate photographs in the 1970s and 80s of men at New York City's once-abandoned West Side piers, then a gay cruising site. Another text is a press release for Melvin Edwards (b. 1937), who creates abstract sculptures and installations from industrial materials like barbed wire, steel, and chains. While their work addresses identity, the artists also explored the spatial relationships between figures through carefully crafted compositions. By laying the press releases on the blanket alongside notations, drawings, and paintings on paper, Mack poses a multifaceted conversation to question a shared notion of abstraction.

Embodied Conversations features 40 works from the Montréal based Lillian and Billy Mauer collection and includes photography, paintings and sculptures from an impressive roster of international artists such as by Lorraine O’Grady, Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Huma Bhabha, Frank Bowling, Glenn Ligon and Annette Messager. The Mauers are often drawn to politically and socially engaged art as well as sculpture, which is evident in curator Lesley Johnstone’s careful selection of works.
___

We are grateful for the ongoing support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture () and the Freybe Foundation.

Eric N. Mack, (Easter) The Spring/The Holy Ground, 2019. Acrylic, dye and paper on moving blanket; 186.7 x 203.2 cm / (73 ½ x 80 in). Lillian and Billy Mauer Collection. © Eric N. Mack. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Jamie Stoker.

Embodied Conversations, Installation & detail view, 2026. Photo: Byron Dauncey

Address

1174 Welch Street
North Vancouver, BC
V7P2R5

Opening Hours

Friday	12pm - 5pm
Saturday	12pm - 5pm
Sunday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+16049850136

Website

http://griffinartprojects.ca/, https://linktr.ee/griffinartprojects

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