To celebrate the reopening of Working Gear and in support of the volunteer-led organization’s meaningful work in Vancouver’s DTES, This Gallery invites you to explore both silent and live auctions to collect available work donated by the many contributing artists.

To see the exhibition catalogue, click here.

To purchase tickets to the event or to donate, click here.

A tender, moving chapter of artist Nicholas Demers’ work is available to view during all of June, 2022 at THIS Gallery.

Viewing this exhibition feels like coming home to the friend I knew and loved while we were 5 years old. Some of my favourite memories of Nicky are from racing into our imaginations, still innocent to the brutal realities of being queer in society. Nicky - with a sparkling halo of associative creativity - invented intricate storylines and transformed upcycled toys, costumes, art materials, rocks and natural elements, and so much more into a map of his thriving imagination. 

As we got older, the map seemed to get harder to follow. Crushed by tragic loss and the twisted expectation to perform flat, transactional gender expressions, I lost sight of Nicky’s inner world of magic.

At THIS Gallery, we’re reunited with my childhood friend’s genius through the work of WHAT MAKES US SEEM SO QUEER? Nicky again shows the map to his thriving imagination using many of the same materials he brought to life in our childhood. Today, Nicky advocates for boundless creative inner life and presents a deep, dynamic, whole, complex gender expression and identity that reflects the true aliveness I’ve always known and loved in him.

THIS Gallery is located at 475 Main St, Vancouver. Please contact Shannon Pawliw via email at shannon@thisgallery.org to arrange your visit.

The opening reception of my upcoming solo show, Long Distance Portraits, with THIS Gallery is on Saturday, April 2nd from noon until 4 pm at 475 Main St, Vancouver.

My newest works depict a reflection on the separation of families, friends, neighbours, strangers, and – at times – a sense of future self through long-distance portraiture. With isolation comes a fragmentation of identity and through this work, including the interactive drawing activity entitled Empathy Station inspired by artist Juliana Bedoya’s curation with a local nonprofit, I’m inviting the viewer to reintegrate into community through observation or witnessing of each other and ourselves.

10% of sales from this show will be donated to Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. 

This work will be available to view throughout April 2022. Please contact Shannon Pawliw via email at shannon@thisgallery.org to arrange your visit.