CELEBRATING 25 YEARS!
DIANE FARRIS GALLERY, VANCOUVER BC
Diane Farris Gallery, Gastown, 1984
Maybe I shouldn't be amazed that the vivacious and pulsating power of Diane Farris Gallery - and its driving force - have been on the art scene for a quarter century, but it does remind me that time passes.
Few people have ever been so persistent in their attention to me, as if I had the capacity or power to be much help with the huge and often unruly creative talents she was drawn to and tirelessly promoted. No doubt I thought about advancing them more than I would have without her calls, visits, and invitations. I came to have a consciousness of a Farris-based School of Vancouver.
Diane is inseparable from her gallery. Her striking and - when I knew her during my happy years at the Seattle Art Museum (1987-1996)] - fast-evolving persona wondrously and touchingly mixed urban chic and Northwest wholesomeness. She somehow combined bashful gentility and unapologetic relentlessness: Doris Day playing an edgy gallerist.
Bravo for surviving and thriving.
Patterson Sims, Director, Montclair Art Museum
Former Director of the Seattle Art Museum, curator Whitney Art Museum, New York, and writer.
In Berlin with Grossmann and Lukacs
To my dearest, Diane!
Thanks for being a digital pioneer.
Your web presence pre-dates that of any other dealer I know . . . even pre-dates artnet!
Your prescience, lack of trepidation, and determination have been an inspiration to me over the years, and I would have to give you at least partial credit for whatever success we've enjoyed. You are also a delightful luncheon partner with far-ranging intelligence. You are also possessed of a wonderful sense of humor.
Your biggest fan,
Bill Fine
President, artnet Worldwide,
New York
Diane with Arthur Erickson
Dear Diane:
Just a note to congratulate you and your colleagues on the 25th Anniversary of the Diane Farris Gallery.
It has been an interesting road to where you have arrived today, paved no doubt with many wonderful memories of all the artists you have represented.
Yoshi and I have certainly enjoyed our relationship with you over the years, and are grateful for the numerous opportunities you have presented us with to acquire some important contemporary art works.
Please accept our best wishes for many more years of success.
Yours sincerely,
Michael J. Audain
The Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts in British Columbia
Member of the Board of Trustees, The National Gallery of Canada
Futura Bold, 1985
I have a very clear memory of Betty Craig and I, early in our careers as art advisors, meeting Diane, whose career was even younger. We are in Diane's home and making our way through piles of papers, tissues, prints and portfolios that are stacked on her dining room table, the sofa and whatever else we could use.
It seemed an inauspicious beginning, but before long, Diane had established herself as an important player in Vancouver's art community. Her move to the upstairs Gastown space gave her the opportunity to show some of the city's most promising young talent. It must have been a challenge to work in that space, but for the visitor, the climb up the stairs to the red brick walls of the gallery was always rewarding. Mid-eighties and the time of the Young Romantics!
It was a very big step to move to the cool sophistication of the new space off South Granville. Diane raised the bar and attracted more artists, more patrons and a much larger database. Her openings were always great events and Diane was a whirlwind of activity-connecting with everyone. This enthusiasm is "pure Diane". She has been steadfast in her support of her artists always willing to go one step further. It is a tribute to Diane that some of the artists featured in the "Celebrating 25" exhibition have been part of a long association.
She has always cared. Thanks and congratulations.
Merla Beckerman
Board of Trustees, Vancouver Art Gallery
Diane Farris Gallery today
HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY!
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Interior view of the DFG gallery at 1565 W 7th Avenue, with Diane Farris in foreground
Congratulations to Diane and thanks to
all of those who have worked and contributed to the success of the Diane Farris Gallery over the past 25 years. Diane has been an irrepressible dynamo, an unparalleled one-person marketing force promoting the values of Canadian contemporary art. Through her exuberant personality and seemingly inexhaustible energy she attracted and counseled many new supporters of art. DFG was not so much an exhibition space, but an energy field. Openings at the gallery in Gastown became must-attend events, a marvelous meeting ground to acquaint collectors with the rising young artists of the city. The gallery spaces set a new standard for contemporary commercial galleries, whether it be the elegant historic conversion in Gastown or the spacious and architectural elan of the galleries on West Seventh, the galleries were worth a visit if only for their own physical ambience.
Like the spirit of Diane herself, the gallery embraced passionate art. Who else could have been so poised and self-assured to identify and herald recent art school graduates and as well, in retrospect, to have been so right, so many times? DFG was the pulse of the new scene. In a city enamored by post-conceptualism, media and photography, Diane steadfastly promoted the attributes of painting and object-makers. In part, her example created a receptive climate that encouraged the development and acceptance of the current vibrant generation of expressionist, humanist artists that grace Vancouver today.
Jeffrey Spalding C.M.,
President, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
President and CEO,
Glenbow Museum
Congratulations on your 25th!
Hope you are having a great celebration. You deserve it.
Your gallery has enriched the Vancouver art scene permanently.
Through the years you and your artists have brought strength and
excitement to Canadian art.
We'll have a drink to you for the next 25.
Thanks for taking us on as artists when we first immigrated - this has
always been valued by us as well as being an asset to our careers.
All the best of luck for the future,
Deon and Kathy Venter
Congratulations to Pablo for loyally
guarding the gallery for 11 years!
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