Lani Maestro’s exhibition, “Offsite” at the Vancouver Art Gallery features a ruby-red neon installation that spells, “No pain like this body” which is presented next to another sculpture that says the same thing. She was inspired to come up with this installation after experiencing the environment of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Neighborhood. The emotions and spirit of this installation was formed when she was walking down Hastings Street. The social, political and cultural differences in the city was more than apparent to her and the words, “No pain like this body” was the energy that she felt when she could see the harsh lifestyles of certain people living in Hastings Street.

The side-by-side installation of these words in a big and bright form gives the installation a feeling of popping out of the wall and into the mind. No pain like this body has been exhibited at different places around the world. Lani Maestro had initially created this piece in 2010 and since then, it has been featured at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg from 2010-2011, the Philippine Pavilion in 2017 and the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in Manila in 2019. After over 10 years, Maestro’s art is brought back to Vancouver. It can be seen at 1100 West Georgia Street, between Thurlow and Bute streets, to the west of Shangri-La Hotel.

Her diverse poetic minimalism is recognized and admired by many people from the international artistic community. Lani Maestro was born in Manila, Philippines where she became a professional artist. After over ten years of working as a professional artist, she immigrated to Canada in 1982 and continued her artistic journey. Her experience of living in different countries and cultures has shaped her into the artist that she is today and her multi-cultural background can be interpreted in her work.