Michelle Bui

Bringing both a painterly and sculptural approach to her photographic practice, Montreal-based artist Michelle Bui operates within the visual language of the still life. Working with an array of everyday, seemingly unremarkable materials, Bui creates assemblages for the camera, building alluring scenes through processes of accumulating, merging, manipulating, and resituating. 
 
In *Mutable Materialism*, an exhibition presented on the CAG façade and at Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, Bui offers two new suites of images, each a reflection on the relationships between sense, sensation and desire. Whether referencing the seductive language of advertising, the tactility of the touch-screen, or the conventions of commercial packaging and display, Bui’s works engage and confuse, coaxing incongruous forms into conversation with one another to invite reflection on the ways we connect with and consume objects and images alike.
 
### Biography

Michelle Bui is a Montreal-based artist working in photography and sculpture. Her research revolves around the inseparable conjuncture between material culture and identity, opening it to a shifted place where sensory identity can unfold. Recent solo exhibitions include *Objects for an Audience*, Galerie Rad Hourani, Montreal (2020); *Spilled Plenitude*, Franz Kaka, Toronto (2020); *Centerfold*, Parisian Laundry, Montreal (2019); *Plein Soleil*, Circa, Montreal (2019); *Pool of Plenty*, Galerie de l'UQAM, Montreal (2018). Her work was also included in group shows at Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée, Montreal; Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University, Newark; Projet Pangée, Montreal; and Vu Photo, Quebec City. Bui completed her MA at Université du Québec à Montréal and at Beaux-arts de Paris, and her BFA at Concordia University.

### Acknowledgements

*Michelle Bui: Mutable Materialism* is in partnership with Capture Photography Festival. The project is co-curated by Julia Lamare, Acting Associate Curator, Contemporary Art Gallery and Chelsea Yuill, Assistant Curator, Capture Photography Festival. Works at Yaletown-Roundhouse Station are presented in partnership with the Canada Line Public Art Program – InTransit BC.


![capture and intransit.png](https://cag-cms-cdn.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi-uploads/9982fe0167b556993e09b2b4a6b85455.png)

ProgramGuideWinter2022.pdf

CAG_MichelleBui_ExhibitionGuide_Mobile_P1.pdf

A photographic work by Michelle Bui. Diffuse colours and indecipherable plant matter appear beneath a layer of wrinkled plastic film. Sparse flowers and petals are sprinkled across the picture plane.

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A view of the Contemporary Art Gallery building from across the street. The windows are  covered with vinyl photographs depicting diffuse colour,  indecipherable plant matter and wrinkled plastics. 

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An askance view of the outside of CAG. Vinyl photographs, depicting diffuse colours and indecipherable plant matter appearing beneath a layer of wrinkled plastic film cover the windows. 

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An exterior view of three of CAG’s windows covered with vinyl photographs depicting diffuse colours and indecipherable plant matter, which appear beneath a layer of wrinkled plastic film. 

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An exterior view of two of CAG’s windows covered with vinyl photographs depicting diffuse colours and indecipherable plant matter, which appear beneath a layer of wrinkled plastic film. 

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5-07 Michelle Bui 2022.jpg

A corner view of Yaletown-Roundhouse train station covered entirely in seven large-scale, colourful still-life photographs. The images depict a variety of singular flowers with various objects. 

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6-08 Michelle Bui 2022.jpg

Two large-scale still life photographs printed in vinyl cover an entire side of Yaletown-Roundhouse station. The images depict singular flowers with various objects on pink and brown backgrounds. 

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Five large-scale still life photographs printed in vinyl cover an entire side of Yaletown-Roundhouse station. The images depict a variety of singular flowers with various objects on colourful backgrounds. 

thumbnail_8-10 Michelle Bui 2022.jpg

8-10 Michelle Bui 2022.jpg

Mutable Materialism

[RSVP](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81232679943?pwd=WThWWDk1UVR5ZUVwZWNHVWJSd0ZiZz09 "button")

CAG and Ground Floor have teamed up again to offer WEDGE RESIDENCY for a second year. This 60-minute info session will provide prospective applicants with further details on the residency and application process, including an open Q&A period.

For complete details on this year's call for applications, please see [this page](https://cagvancouver.org/event/wedge-residency).

### RSVP
This event will be held via Zoom. Please register [here](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81232679943?pwd=WThWWDk1UVR5ZUVwZWNHVWJSd0ZiZz09).

### Accessibility
This session will be live captioned (CART). ASL interpretation is also available on request. Requests can be accommodated up to 5 days in advance. Please contact [learning@cagvancouver.org](learning@cagvancouver.org) to book or for more information.

### Questions?
Send us a note at [wedge@cagvancouver.org](mailto:wedge@cagvancouver.org).

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INFORMATION SESSION.jpg

Information Session

WEDGE RESIDENCY

[RSVP](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qc-GgrTIuE9a3HlreAaFuslqmAbOmGZda "button")

We are pleased to announce our latest installment of CAG Reads, a book club where artists invite us to read alongside them. Each month an artist proposes text 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 month, CAG Reads will be hosted by Dana Qaddah. Dana has chosen to read a selection of poetry: *From There* by Etel Adnan, *The House as Casualty* by Mahmoud Darwish, and *So drunk am I with the night, the air, and the trees* by Mona Saudi.

Dana Qaddah (b. Beirut, Lebanon) is an interdisciplinary artist and independent curator currently based on unceded Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish territory. Qaddah’s practice uses archives of personal and itinerant cultural knowledge to traverse themes of Arab futurism and storytelling, while reflecting on the condition of being abstracted from the destruction of one’s own sense of self and place.

### Getting the texts

Access to all of Dana’s CAG Reads selections will be provided upon registration.

### RSVP

Registration for this event is free, but limited. RSVP to secure your place [here](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qc-GgrTIuE9a3HlreAaFuslqmAbOmGZda).

### CART Captions

This event will be live captioned (CART). For more information please contact [learning@cagvancouver.org](mailto:learning@cagvancouver.org)

### ASL interpretation

ASL interpretation is available on request. Requests can be accommodated up to 5 days in advance. Please contact [learning@cagvancouver.org](mailto:learning@cagvancouver.org) to book or for more information.

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Dana Qaddah presents Etel Adnan, Mona Saudi and Mahmoud Darwish

CAG Reads

CAG and Ground Floor have teamed up again to offer WEDGE RESIDENCY for a second year, with this year’s program set to take place over summer and fall 2022. This year’s residencies will provide early-emerging artists and cultural practitioners with the opportunity to work directly with a mentor to explore a research question related to the past, present and or future of “Vancouver.” 

CAG and Ground Floor operate as uninvited guests on the ancestral and sacred lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, lands which were never ceded or surrendered. 

On the occasion of CAG’s 50th anniversary, the gallery will launch later this year a series of programs that explore the social and cultural histories that have shaped “Vancouver” over the past five decades (and beyond), inviting local artists, cultural workers, civic leaders, and other thinkers to reflect on the moments, movements, art, and actors that have impacted the city’s history, development and future in ways large and small. 

As part of this initiative, CAG and Ground Floor are inviting applications for self-directed residencies from early-emerging artists and cultural practitioners who are interested in exploring a research question that touches on the artistic, social or cultural history (or future) of “Vancouver” through intergenerational dialogue and exchange. 

These residencies will provide participants with a stipend, support to develop their practice, and mentorship from an established artist or cultural practitioner to explore their specific research question in depth. This is an opportunity for residents to expand their connections to a wider local arts community; gain insight into the framework of both an established institution and a DIY art collective; work one-on-one with a mentor to further their research interests; and share some of their findings publicly.

Along with those who identify as artists, CAG and Ground Floor welcome those who work in curating, writing, new media, and other cultural or community-based practices to apply to this residency. An early-emerging artist or practitioner is broadly defined by Ground Floor as someone of any age with minimal experience or access to opportunities within arts institutions, who demonstrate a commitment to their practice and a desire to engage with a larger community. 

### Who should apply
- Those who self-identify as early-emerging artists or cultural practitioners. This may include post-secondary students and recent graduates, self-taught artists and artists newly revisiting their practice.
- Those with an interest in exploring the history, development or future of “Vancouver,” artistically, socially or otherwise.
- Those with a desire for mentorship and intergenerational dialogue and exchange, ideally with a specific mentor (or mentors) in mind.
- Those with a desire to further their involvement in a greater community context.

We welcome applications from those over the age of 18 currently living in the Lower Mainland. Both individuals and collectives are welcome to apply. 

### Residency details
Successful applicants will be awarded residencies of eight to ten weeks from mid-summer to mid-fall 2022. Residents will be scheduled for bi-weekly meetings throughout their residency with CAG, Ground Floor and/or their mentor. This is a remote residency and does not offer physical studio space. 

Residencies include: 
- A $2,000 stipend
- Mentorship from an established artist or practitioner
- Studio visits from guest artists and/or curators
- Studio visits with the Ground Floor team
- Studio visits and research support from CAG’s curatorial team
- Access to CAG’s library and archives 

All residents will also work with CAG, Ground Floor and their mentor to develop a public-facing output that shares some of their research, ideally in long-form audio. These outputs will be produced in mid-fall 2022, following the conclusion of the residency, with full production support from CAG.

### Information session
CAG and Ground Floor will hold an information session for interested applicants on Sunday May 29, 2022 at 2 pm PDT. For more details and to register, click [here](https://cagvancouver.org/event/wedge-info-session). 

### How to apply
The application form can be downloaded [here](https://cag-cms-cdn.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/strapi-uploads/e2de2443be5dc37616ae454f3b9f678f.pdf). We invite applications in various formats, including written, audio, and video submissions.

Application deadline: Sunday, June 12, 2022, 11:59 pm PDT.

Support in the application process is available. Please contact [wedge@cagvancouver.org](mailto:wedge@cagvancouver.org) or 604.681.2700 for more information. 

### About Ground Floor
Ground Floor supports early emerging artists by providing accessible opportunities that further the development of artists’ practices. Ground Floor is a reaction to the need for community strengthening, network development and programming opportunities for artists in the early stage of their careers. Based on the values of care, hospitality and a positive approach to failure, Ground Floor emphasizes experimentation of work and the cross-pollination of disciplines. Ground Floor is a collective comprised of Asia Jong, Jack Kenna and India Eliot Oates.


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