Exhibitions

The Michael Wright Art Gallery (MWAG), Outlet Gallery, City Hall Gallery, and Port Coquitlam Community Centre feature a rotating program of exhibitions by local and regional artists. The exhibitions advance knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the visual arts by integrating art into community life and contributing significantly to the cultural landscape of Port Coquitlam.

Every Saturday families are invited to take part in Art in the Gallery from 10am- 12pm This free drop-in program is offered at the Michael Wright Art Gallery in Leigh Square. Enjoy the exhibition and make an art piece to take home. All supplies provided, no registration required!

Exhibition Opening Reception

Thursday, June 25
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Michael Wright Art Gallery

Join us for the opening reception on Thurs. June 25 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Meet the artists while enjoying live music by Itamar Erez Duo and refreshments sponsored by Patina Brewing. We look forward to welcoming you to this inspiring evening of art and reflection.

Award-winning composer and guitarist Itamar Erez is internationally recognized for his deeply expressive and distinctive musical voice. Blending the delicacy of Middle Eastern traditions, the freedom of jazz, and the passion of flamenco, he creates music that resonates with audiences around the world. A recipient of both the 2014 ACUM Prize for Special Achievement in Jazz and the prestigious Landau Prize, Itamar has shared the stage with renowned artists including Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tomatito, Avishai Cohen, Jean-Louis Matinier, and Zohar Fresco. He has released six acclaimed albums and is currently completing his seventh.
Photo credit: Diane Smithers

Bassist, arranger, and composer Daniel Howard is one of Vancouver’s emerging voices in contemporary jazz. Known for his versatility and musical sensitivity, he has performed alongside respected artists including Mimosa, Victor Noriega, Triston Paxton, John Lee, and Chris Davis. Drawing inspiration from the influential piano trios of the 1990s as well as alternative rock icons such as Radiohead and Nirvana, Daniel brings a fresh and distinctive perspective to his work as both a performer and composer.

Night is Purer Than Day by Ketty Haolin Zhang

Michael Wright Art Gallery | #200-2253 Leigh Square
June 12, 2026 – September 10, 2026

Night is Purer Than Day is an ongoing painting series by Ketty Haolin Zhang that explores her experience as a 1.5-generation immigrant living between cultures. Using digital snapshots from her life, the works show nightlife as a space between the familiar and the unknown—where uncertainty, intimacy, closeness, and distance coexist. With saturated colour and sharp contrast, Zhang paints scenes that blur public and private life, reflecting questions of belonging and pressure to assimilate. The series treats non-belonging as both a choice and a form of sovereignty.

kettyhaolinzhang.com
instagram.com/kettyzzz

Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice?

I’m an emerging visual artist working primarily in painting and mixed-media assemblage. I grew up in an industrial city in northeast China called Chaoyang, and immigrated with my parents to Canada as a teenager. That experience of shifting identity continues to shape my work.

I went to university for art, but took my time deciding if being an artist is what I wanted in life while working in corporate for quite a few years. Part of it was fear of uncertainties and instability, along with feeling ill-equipped to navigate a creative career, which no one in my family has done and is supportive of.

In 2023 I quit my corporate job to work in non-profit arts and got an art studio, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Art has taught me so much - how to look inward, how to build relationships within a community, how to be entrepreneurial with integrity, how to keep going despite rejection and doubt. It’s been truly a blessing and a privilege to learn more about the world and myself through art.
What subject matter do you work with and why?

It’s constantly evolving. When I made these paintings in the show, I was drawn to the psychological space of nighttime, where things feel both intimate and distant, and emotions are heightened yet fragile. Throughout my teenage years after I moved from China to Canada, I did not fit in; and eventually nightlife broke me out of my shell and taught me better interpersonal skills that I craved for so many years. In my nighttime paintings, I was trying to portray the scenes that made me feel like the sense of belonging was flirting with me and playing tricks, in a figurative way.

Lately, I've been working mostly in mixed-media assemblages around the topic of provisional belonging, self-construction, and self-transformation. This grew out of what I learned about myself through the nighttime paintings, and would not have existed without previous experiments.
How does the idea of community relate to your practice?

In my practice, many ideas were inspired by conversations with friends, who gave me pieces of knowledge and insight that I wouldn’t have encountered elsewhere at the time. Professionally, community has also been foundational; outside of the studio, artists cannot work alone. Being able to find a lot of likeminded people and collaborating with them in different ways has been the game changer for me this year. Rapport brings me so much joy.
What is your dream project?

If funding and time weren't a constraint, I want to experiment with world-building. I want to create a disorienting experience with an alternative set of realities people enter and have to temporarily believe in. Viewers get assigned roles or identities without knowing and the individual experience depends on invisible rules. The idea will be more clear when the time’s right.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?

“Choosing is an artistic skill."
Name three artists who’ve inspired you.

All contemporary artists who are great at world-building: Cao Fei, Alfredo Jaar, and the artist duo Women’s History Museum.

Botaniqa Nusantara by Adam Mohamed

Outlet Gallery | #110-2248 McAllister Avenue
June 12, 2026 – September 10, 2026

Botaniqa Nusantara is a contemporary visual art exhibition by Adam Mohamed that reimagines botanical imagery through a modern, Southeast Asian batik-inspired lens. Through acrylic painting and mixed media, the series adopt an illustrative style, translating traditional motifs and cultural memory into bold, stylized compositions. Botaniqa Nusantara reflects on identity, migration, and cultural continuity, while celebrating plants as more than decoration. Each form carries stories of home, heritage, rituals, and everyday life, shaped by lived experiences and revealing tradition as something living and evolving.

instagram.com/yapplecomics

Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice?

I am a Canadian-based Singaporean artist. I am both an artist and arts educator, having worked in the education field for many years. I hold an MEd in Arts Education and is deeply interested in how visual arts shape our everyday experiences, influence our memories, and create meaningful connections in our lives.

Drawing and painting has always been at the heart of my practice, and I work through illustration and comics. Over time, my artistic practice has evolved to explore themes of culture, identity, humour, and storytelling through visual language.
What subject matter do you work with and why?

Batik, with its ornamental patterning and rich visual language, has been the central theme of my recent artworks. Batik is a traditional textile art that uses wax and dyes to create patterns and designs on fabric, originating in Southeast Asia, where I was born and raised. Growing up, I was surrounded by batik in everyday life, appearing in clothing, architecture, and design.

In my art works, I try to interpret batik in a contemporary form, drawing upon personal memories and cultural connections. I work with motifs that feel familiar and comforting, particularly floral and nature-inspired patterns. Through my exploration, I seek to celebrate the beauty of heritage while reflecting on identity and memory.
How does the idea of community relate to your practice?

Community has always played a big role in my work because I often draw from shared visual culture and collective memory. I like the idea that people might recognize certain motifs or patterns and connect them to their own background or experiences. The work then becomes a shared memory and brings us together as we enjoy it.
What is your dream project?

My dream project would be a large-scale, multidisciplinary exhibition that brings together visual art, sculpture, comics, and video across different spaces or even cities.

I would like it to explore humour, memory, and identity in a way that is accessible, inclusive, and engaging. Ideally, it would be both educational and interactive, where audiences can reflect on their own memories, and participate in the experience in some way.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?

Be your true self! Never compare yourself to others. Focus on what inspires you and keep making work. Everyone has their own pace and path, and I think the most important thing is staying consistent and true to your own voice.
Name three artists who’ve inspired you.

Three artists who’ve inspired me are Kumari Nahappan from Singapore, Heri Dono from Indonesia, and Chuah Thean Teng from Malaysia.

I like how Kumari Nahappan uses botanical and symbolic forms in a very bold way, how Heri Dono brings humour and storytelling into their work through traditional references, and how Chuah Thean Teng helped develop modern batik. They’ve all influenced how I think about pattern, culture, and storytelling in my own practice.

My Favourite Moments by Alexander Lecce

City Hall Gallery | 2580 Shaughnessy St
June 12, 2026 – September 10, 2026

My Favourite Moments by Alexander Lecce features a series of acrylic paintings drawn from real life references from the Tri-Cities: Port Moody, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam. Lecce also creates drawings, sculptures, and handmade wooden toys, blending history, nature, and imagination. Working from his own photographs, he transforms local landmarks and stories into vivid canvases in intensive sessions, celebrating community, heritage, and personal growth.

alexanderlecce.wixsite.com/website
instagram.com/masteroftheartsalex

Frozen Light by Jordan Nobles

Port Coquitlam Community Centre | 2150 Wilson Ave
June 25, 2026 – September 9, 2026

Frozen Light is a photographic series created during an artist residency aboard the tall ship Antigua in the High Arctic (October 2024). The unmanipulated images capture Arctic sunlight refracted through ancient glacial ice, shaped by centuries of weather and time. Printed on aluminum using high-definition dye-sublimation, the 15 large-format works appear luminous and immersive, shifting with changing light and viewing angles. Rooted in documentary practice yet contemplative in tone, the series reflects themes of environmental awareness, time, and reverence for nature.

jordannobles.com

Exhibitions

Exhibition Opening Reception

Night is Purer Than Day by Ketty Haolin Zhang

Botaniqa Nusantara by Adam Mohamed

My Favourite Moments by Alexander Lecce

Frozen Light by Jordan Nobles

Sponsors

Beverage Sponsor

Patina Brewing

Hours of Operation

Exhibitions

Exhibition Opening Reception

Night is Purer Than Day by Ketty Haolin Zhang

Artist Interview

Botaniqa Nusantara by Adam Mohamed

Artist Interview

My Favourite Moments by Alexander Lecce

Frozen Light by Jordan Nobles

Sponsors

Beverage Sponsor

Patina Brewing