CAG Reads

We are pleased to announce our August installment of CAG Reads, a book club where artists invite us to read alongside them. Each month an artist proposes a book for our collective reading pleasure, culminating in a virtual hangout where the artist leads a wide-ranging discussion grounded in their chosen reading material.

This edition of CAG Reads will be hosted by artists Hannah Jickling and Helen Reed. Since 2006, Reed and Jickling have collaborated on projects that span photography, video, public installations and printed matter, as well as intergenerational research projects such as the ongoing Big Rock Candy Mountain. Jickling and Reed have exhibited and performed widely, with both individual and collaborative work appearing in venues such as the Portland Art Museum, The Power Plant, Smack Mellon and the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 2017 they released Multiple Elementary (YYZBOOKS), a publication that explores the elementary school classroom as a site of invention and reception of contemporary art practices.

For this month’s installment, Reed and Jickling have chosen the novel Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl (2017) by Andrea Lawlor. Set in 1993, Paul Polydoris is a young, queer shapeshifter who transforms his body and gender at will as he crosses the country in an adventure filled with pleasure, connection and loss. Focusing on the musical references that appear throughout the novel, Jickling and Reed will pair selections from the book with a playlist of songs for an online listening party.

Getting the book

As this event explores* Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl* through music, it’s OK if you haven’t read the book! For those who are interested in picking up a copy, here in Vancouver, both Massy Books and Pulp Fiction are happy to order copies for you. Massy Books is offering the book for $23.99 +GST (7-day order window). Pulp Fiction is offering the book at $16.07 + GST (10- to 14-day order window).