Reading the gallery listings in this newspaper, I noticed lots of art in coffee shops. Generally, the owners are decorating their shops for free, with no curatorial oversight and no benefit to the artists, except what they call “exposure.” (“If I wanted exposure I’d take off my clothes,” one disappointed artist told me.) Last week, I took a look.
First stop was Moka House on Cook at Oscar Street, which has 10 photos by Anya Tompa on the walls. Tompa has some fascinating travel photos of Mexico and a number of floral closeups. Frost on rose hips got my attention, framed at $225.
Then Serious Coffee at Cook and Oxford Street, a place that takes its art seriously. Up front were four canvases by AG.com (visit artbyag.com) of people frolicking on beaches. Inexplicably, one has four swimmers coming out of the surf while wearing gas masks. As you might say, go figure. This medium-large canvas is $550. Toward the back are six paintings by Shelby Assenheimer, mostly landscape abstractions based on Saanich fields. For attractive work with an adept competence, she is asking between $300 and $1,300. None had sold.
Don’t be frightened by the demand for pay parking at Shoal Point — you can park in front of the Moka House for free. Inside this spacious and well-appointed coffee shop, on the walls are 20 canvases by Graydon. This artist is all over the map, not very skilled but obviously having a lot of fun with acrylics in his retirement. The abstract colour experiments are instantly forgettable, but among broadly painted portraits of women (movie stars?), I won’t forget one of the Three Stooges, titled Yuk Yuk Yuk.
Lower Pandora Avenue is where the young urbanites hang out, and hanging at Habit Coffee (556 Pandora Ave.) are a raft of up-to-date art prints by liz p dempsey. These are surrealistic doodles, creatures strung together from many tiny drawn parts. Dempsey prints them off on “art paper” in single colours, and has casually hung the prints on the wall with bulldog clips. At modest prices they seem to be selling briskly. That’s rare. (lizpdempsey.tumblr.com).
Walk through Fan Tan Alley and turn left, you’re almost at Bean Around the World. This old-world café (533 Fisgard St.) has more atmosphere than any of the others, and thanks to its Chinatown location — surrounded by artists’ lofts — it has had some fine shows. The current one, presenting small watercolour portraits of imaginary people by Morgana Wallace, is the best in town. I reviewed Wallace’s show at Madrona Gallery last year in the most favourable terms, and now she has brought her small paper works to the masses. Priced at $30 to $80 framed, I consider them an unrepeatable bargain.
One of the things that keeps me away from reviewing coffee shops is that the booths are usually occupied by people who would rather not be interrupted by someone leaning over their table to peer at the (dimly lit) art on the wall between them. That said, Venus Sophia across Fisgard from Fan Tan Alley is well-lit and spacious and has space for Alan el Ailay to hang 25 of his photographs. He’s a good photographer — composition, exposure and all — and his statement says that he has left his tripod and lenses behind, to work exclusively with his iPhonography. The results are good but his subjects — rose, butterfly, hummingbird — are hackneyed.
Over the bridge at 102 Harbour Rd. is Fol Epi, a “boulangerie” with coffee shop attached. Only two artworks were on show, both sizable paintings by the Woodpile Collective, a group of artists who get together to paint and drink beer in a suburban garage in Oak Bay. Their art is the essential manifestation of our time and place, as I think history will show. Royal Corvus, centring on a picture of a crow, was priced at $1,100. Instead, I bought a baguette, which made a good lunch with some cheese and an apple.
A little further into Vic West is the long-running Spiral Café (418 Craigflower Rd.). An all-hours neighbourhood social spot, it was enlivened, even at 10 a.m., by the wonderful jazz stylings of an itinerant pianist. On the walls were accomplished paintings by Susan Aili, centring on a Winterscape, more than a metre square and priced at $2,500, the most expensive piece on my tour. Much of her work is offered as giclee prints on canvas. On the other side of the room were pinned a wall full of imaginary sock creatures by Mary Munro. The critters are charming and also advertised the maker’s workshops.
Hillside Coffee and Tea, near Shelbourne Street, has two artists. Kathryn Compton paints in a loosely realist style, and her two pictures of moon snails were notable. Otherwise, closeup floral subjects did not noticeably slow down my passage through the room. Her show-mate, Linda Butcher, is obviously a dedicated amateur — watercolours of the shoreline of Telegraph Cove — but not ready for prime time.
Serious Coffee at Carlton House on Oak Bay at Elgin is Allan de Haan’s venue and he works it. His simple totem and forest motifs are like a sub-group of Roy Vickers’ work, and he offers them as prints on canvas, block-mounted and as greeting cards.
Discovery Coffee (1964 Oak Bay Ave.) has long-playing records and a turntable, and also really lights up the art on the walls. Currently, Stephanie Prest shows minimalist landscapes in hard-edge acrylic on canvas, in which she makes areas of uninflected blue radiate tropical sunshine and coastal expanses. Prices start at $400 and there is still plenty of choice available.