Media Update - LOLA Launches 2009 Festival With Gala Event and Party

LONDON, ON, Sept. 14 /CNW/ - LOLA (London Ontario Live Arts) Festival - a four-day celebration merging unconventional and groundbreaking music and art - kicks off on Thursday, September 17 with a gala event that begins at The University of Western Ontario and ends with a party at a downtown nightclub.

The evening starts at the McIntosh Gallery with an opening reception at 6:00 p.m. for Condensation: A Cove Story, a new high definition projection work by Governor General's Award winning artist Michael Snow.

At 7:00 p.m., the party moves down the hill to the Artlab Gallery located in the John Labatt Visual Arts Centre for the grand opening of the festival and official opening of Jesus Green Tofino Sunset by Victoria based artist Roberts Youds. Originally positioned as a painter, by the mid-nineties Youds shifted his practice of translating light and colour to what he describes as "light paintings." Youds layers light and matter to create visual experiments in perception and transparency. The artist is also creating a large scale, site-specific light installation that extends the length of Victoria Park.

Artlab Gallery Director Susan Edelstein, expressed her support and enthusiasm for the LOLA festival describing it as "one of the most vibrant and progressive festivals to emerge from London, Ontario. The Artlab and McIntosh Gallery are extremely pleased to be collaborating with LOLA. Being able to offer an engaging, first-hand experience with contemporary artwork produced by two leading Canadian artists provides students with an invaluable opportunity. Having both of the University galleries host these exhibitions just makes a lot of sense."

The grand opening at the Artlab will feature opening remarks, by LOLA executives, dignitaries, and artists as well as hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, and music by DJ Sope. Free LOLA shuttle buses will depart from the John Labatt Visual Arts building to downtown between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.

The celebration continues downtown at 9:00pm with the debut and tour of LOLA art installations in Victoria Park featuring work by Gordon Monahan, Dave Dyment and Nicholas Longstaff, and at various high profile downtown locations by Jesse Stewart, Thinkbox, Kelly Mark and Kevin Curtis-Norcross. Also downtown from 8:00 to 10:00pm, the Michael Gibson Gallery (157 Carling Street) is hosting a reception for Collaborating In The Darkness - an exhibition of Hive Scans by Richard & Aganetha Dyck, and new illuminated aluminum bee work signs and drawings by Aganetha Dyck.

The evening wraps up at The Lounge inside The Music Hall (185 Queens Ave) with Invincible and Miz Korona, both from Detroit. LOLA Music Curator Ian Doig-Phaneuf says, "Invincible is the wickedest female MC on the continent." Miz Korona is also a legend on the Detroit scene since making an appearance in the Curtis Hanson movie 8 Mile. Local acts Patrick the Bunny, DJ Freek, Testament and Thesis Sahib will be warming up the room. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. and the party will run late.

Admission to the opening receptions at McIntosh Gallery, Artlab and Michael Gibson Gallery, and the walking tour is free. All ages are welcome. Tickets for the downtown party at The Lounge are $10 at the door for this 19-plus event.

The fourth annual LOLA Fest runs from September 17th to 20th in various locations in downtown London, at the University of Western Ontario and Forest City Gallery. There are free concerts in Victoria Park on Friday and Saturday including Final Fantasy, Akron/Family, Slaraffenland, Polar Bear and Kaki King on the Rogers main stage. New to LOLA 2009 is the Heineken Trans(greater than)Media stage that showcases artists whose work either encompasses more than one discipline, occupies that fertile territory between disciplines, or defies categorization, including Gordon Monahan, Jesse Stewart, Thinkbox and Michael Snow.

The London Ontario Live Arts Festival began in 2006 as a one-day music and art festival and has quickly grown into a world-class multidisciplinary festival. Past musical performers have included: Do Make Say Think, Off The International Radar, Plants and Animals, Holy Fuck, Grizzly Bear, The Constantines, Shad, Basia Bulat, Tokyo Police Club, Born Ruffians, and Elliott Brood. Visual art at LOLA has included an array of public art works in a variety of media, including large-scale projections on building exteriors, outdoor advertising space, neon signage, street theatre, and generative art projects by artists from across the globe. Past participating artists include: Michelle Gay, blackholefactory with Sigi Torinus and Jose Seoane, Rich Jacobs and Taylor McKimens. In 2007, LOLA was pleased to present the Canadian premiere of 77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno.

For further information: For all media requests, please contact: Darin Addison, Publicity Manager, LOLA (London Ontario Live Arts), [phone], [e-mail]; For more information, visit: lolafest.com, Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/lolafest