The Prop House:
A Collection of One Million Objects
On Main and Griffin Art Projects is pleased to invite you to the Opening Reception of The Prop House: A Collection of One Million Objects
Friday, May 17 from 6-8 PM
The exhibition will be presented from May 18 – August 18, 2024
Griffin Art Projects
1174 Welch St, North Vancouver, BC
Curated by Lisa Baldissera and Paul Wong, The Prop House: A Collection of One Million Objects celebrates Mount Pleasant Furniture (MPF), a prop house wonderland for film, television, stage and art communities. A family-owned and operated business in the heart of the Mount Pleasant warehouse district, MPF is a diverse collection of over one million antique and vintage objects stored in two multi-level buildings–a labyrinth of 35,000 square feet, crammed from floor ceiling with furnishings, objects of art, paintings, textiles, sculpture, figurines. The collection has been accumulated by three generations of the Madsen family and has been used in set designs in the Vancouver film industry over the past 40 years. Leslie Madsen continues to live in the 1911 building that she owns and has raised her family in, and her son now manages the day-to-day operations.
MPF will soon close and disperse its collection as the warehouse it has leased for 30 years has been sold. By revealing MPF, The Prop House highlights the impacts of development and gentrification on the city of Vancouver and its arts and culture sectors.
The Prop House exhibition presents the work of seven Vancouver-based artists: Cathy Busby, Germaine Koh, Jay Senetchko, Charlene Vickers, Parvin Peivandi and Bagua Artist Association as well as photographer Jason Payne. Along with the exhibition’s curators, the artists will re-situate selected collection objects at Griffin Art Projects on one last journey of imagination.
Along with the exhibition, The Prop House also consists of Paul Wong’s film project presented on grunt gallery’s Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen, at the intersection of Kingsway and Broadway in Vancouver. The MPF team is creating a site-specific window installation at MPF, 38 E 4th Ave, Vancouver.
A robust public program series accompanies the exhibition:
- Sunday, June 9, 1 – 2:30 PM – The Prop House: A Collection of One Million Objects Tour with Curators Lisa Baldissera and Paul Wong & Exhibition Artists (hybrid – in person at Griffin Art Projects and online via Zoom)
- Sunday, July 7th at 1 – 2:30 PM – Conversations on Collecting with Leslie Madsen at Griffin Art Projects
- Sunday, July 14th at 1 – 4 PM – Mount Pleasant Furniture Tours (in-person at Mount Pleasant Furniture, RSVP ticketed event)
- Sunday, August 4th at 1 – 4 PM – Mount Pleasant Furniture Tours (in-person at Mount Pleasant Furniture, RSVP ticketed event)
- Sunday, August 18th at 1 – 2 PM – The Prop House: A Collection of One Million Objects Exhibition Tour in Farsi (in-person)
The Prop House is co-produced by On Main Gallery and Griffin Art Projects, in collaboration with grunt gallery and Mount Pleasant Furniture. On Main Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of the City of Vancouver. Griffin Art Projects is grateful for the support of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture along with the ongoing support of the Freybe Foundation in the presentation of this project.
We look forward to celebrating with you!
