White Rock artist Olivier Salvas opens '90s Mixtape abstract show at Nomad Gallery

Vancouver-based contemporary artist Olivier Salvas opens "90s Mixtape" on Friday, November 6, at Nomad Gallery in White Rock, transforming 1990s cultural memory into bold abstract paintings. The show, running through November 19 at 1377 Johnston Road, explores "nostalgia, identity and emotion through expressive colour, gesture and layered surfaces."

Salvas, who was born in Montreal, uses abstraction rather than literal depiction to translate the decade's spirit. Bold colour, movement and gesture evoke 1990s pop culture and urban aesthetics while allowing each work to stand independently as contemporary art. The exhibition is framed as a visual playlist — "each one carrying its own mood, memory and energy," Salvas said. "Together, they create a visual soundtrack to the 1990s."

The show extends a thread of exploration Salvas has pursued through earlier 1990s-inspired works presented in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, as well as his "Flamboyant" series, which centred colour, excess and expressive energy as core elements of his visual language. Salvas is known for a multidisciplinary practice exploring identity, memory, visibility and belonging through painting and mixed media. He served as a 2019 Canadian Culture Days Ambassador for British Columbia, and his "Flamboyant" collection won First Prize from the Federation of Canadian Artists in 2021.

The opening reception runs Friday, November 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the gallery.