Offbeat Vancouver gallery Hot Art Wet City closing at end of month

A gallery that showcased local art, comedy and other creative events is leaving the Vancouver scene at the end of the month.

Hot Art Wet City on Main Street has been a centre for offbeat and affordable culture since 2012 but owner Chris Bentzen says the sky-high cost of real estate means this month's exhibition will be the last.

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"It's the end of a lease, and art sales aren't good enough to justify renewing the lease," he told On The Coast guest host Gloria Macarenko. "So it's time to move on.

"It's been a good run but I can't keep going into debt running an art gallery."

Bentzen says his gallery aimed to fill a gap in the arts scene: it was smaller and offered art that was more affordable than at high-end galleries. It was a place that could give newer artists a chance, and also onethat Bentzen says is just plain "weird."

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"Contemporary surrealist stuff, lowbrow art, dirty art, nude art," he said.

The gallery was also home to weekly comedy shows, frequently hosted by Graham Clark, a mainstay on CBC Radio's The Debaters.

Friday saw the opening reception of the final show, "Bad People: Portraits of the Punishable" with art from the figurative art collective Phantoms in the Front Yard.

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Speaking ahead of the event, Bentzensaid it would bring him mixed emotions.

"I'm feeling lots of different things: relief, so I can take a break, but also a lot of sadness for not being able to see what artists in Vancouver come up with before anybody else," he said.

"Now I just gotta be a regular attendee to art shows."

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast

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