Vancouver SWARMed by art, hipsters

If you’re of the sort that exhausts the exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery and feels that the drink specials at your local bar are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi, consider this: SWARM, Vancouver’s self-described gallery hop/meet-and-greet/art star extravaganza is enthusiastically underway for the sixth year running. Sixteen different galleries, collectives, and artist-run centres will open their doors for two semi-debauched evenings of art and beverage consumption. There will be paintings, drawings, sculptures, soundscapes, landscapes, films and photography. And yes, if the website is any indication, most of it will probably be served with a pleasant garnish of semi-lucid and thoroughly profound artspeak. A beer-goggle masquerade, one might say. You’ll wonder why you ever attended anything that wasn’t an art show.