Here is an excerpt from an interview with HVW8’s Tyler Gibney on Hi-Fi’s recent acquisition of number of pieces from the HVW8 Gallery.
CF (Vanessa Conley): What can we expect from this collection of artists?
The Hifi acquired a number of pieces and prints from the HVW8 Gallery. This represents a good cross section of what the Gallery is about, with a mandate of representing avant-garde graphic design; Some of best international artists of this genre.
‘Past & Present’ is the theme of the collection. What does this entail?
HVW8 started in a golden era of Montreal in 1998. In 2005 we opened the Gallery in West Hollywood. This represents pieces from the past 14 years to present. The artwork ranges from myself, HVW8 Art Collective to number of past alumni at the HVW8 Gallery.
How does the aspect of music contribute in this collection?
We’ve always had music and music artists at the Gallery … Mos Def, Snoop Dog, Mayer Hawthorne, Master Blazter have all done things at the space, as well a number of bands were created during live recordings at the Gallery. Art and music have a symbiotic relationship – aural and visual, but the process is the same, so I think there is context for the two to live together, and I try to do that at the Gallery. These pieces reflect this.
What can this HVW8 installation bring to Calgary to help develop the local arts scene?
I’m from Calgary, went to Montreal, ended up in Los Angeles and now I’m back here, all through art and music.
Art can be a very difficult term to define. What is art to you?
Art is a mediation and reflection of life. Art is the times.
Can you explain how HVW8 Art Collective works?
We started off as three guys coming together creating live pieces and we were lucky to travel around the world. We had installations and exhibitions in cities such as Tokyo, Munich, London, Amsterdam, New York, Miami, San Juan, Puerto Rico to name a few. We were the first ‘Art Band’ creating pieces collectively.
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