How this Port Moody artist landed her first solo exhibit

This was the year where Angie Quintanilla Coates didn’t say no. 

Heading into 2024, Quintanilla Coates, a Port Moody-based artist who grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, dreamed about growing her art business which focuses on commercial and fine art. 

Since moving to Port Moody in 2020 and deciding to pursue an art career while leaving a relatively stable job in marketing and management behind, Quintanilla Coates has helped reignite a local art show, co-painted a 1000-square foot mural for the City of Coquitlam and made art for major companies like M&M’s and the New York Times. 

But one milestone has eluded her over the years: hosting a solo exhibit, an art show commonly considered a landmark for an emerging artist.  

“I’ve never done something like that,” said Quintanilla Coates, noting that artists must have completed enough pieces along a similar theme and capture the attention of a gallery before launching their own exhibit.

So earlier this year, when Quintanilla Coates stumbled upon a woodshop residency in Vancouver, she jumped at the opportunity to master a new craft. At the time, though, Quintanilla Coates simply hoped to learn how to frame her artwork, which was mostly comprised of paintings and illustrations. 

She didn’t expect the class — designed to teach women and non-binary people how to use power tools — to inspire a new collection. 

She grew to love woodworking, despite its historical bias against women, and quickly made multiple wood sculptures throughout the first few months of this year, hoping to create enough pieces to present at a future art show.  

“My new medium makes it more three dimensional,” Quintanilla Coates said. “I’ve learned so much about gluing and clamps. I’ve spent more money in the hardware store than in the art supplies store.” 

The wood sculptures added a new dimension to her art portfolio. But she didn’t have a home to exhibit the pieces until the summer, when a peer suggested she market her work to the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre, a non-profit that was simultaneously planning to run an exhibit featuring Latin American culture this month. 

“It is so wild,” Quintanilla Coates said. “I remember dreaming that one day, maybe in five years [I would get a solo exhibit]. I didn’t think it would happen this year.” 

It was a match made in heaven for Quintanilla Coates, who was planning for the wood-based collection to honour her Mexican heritage. The exhibit, Sing, Don’t Cry, held at THIS Gallery in Vancouver, reflects the importance of showing joy and optimism daily, two traits that are important in Mexican culture. 

The song, “Cielito Lindo,” is the unofficial anthem of Mexico, Quintanilla Coates says. It’s a song that is played at the World Cup and following tragedies such as a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico City in 2017 and killed hundreds of people. 

Portraying joy and optimism has never come easy to Quintanilla Coates. 

Growing up, she lost her father and struggled with her mental health. She never understood how people could be laughing and having fun while she had to overcome the loss of a parent. When she moved to Canada, and found sobriety, her mother also passed away. 

She leaned on her sisters for support, carving out space to mourn and appreciate the memories of her mother. In time, she learned how to reframe tragedy as another facet of life. 

“Being alive is a privilege,” Quintanilla Coates says. “Life inherently has the most incredible things, and if we’re lucky to be alive, we will experience loss, heartbreak and grief.” 

Her art, which frequently blends vibrant colours like hot pink, burnt-orange and yellow, has been a way of reflecting joy and optimism in her daily life. 

When Quintanilla Coates first started creating art, she instinctively gravitated towards those colours. It took her awhile to realize that looking at bright colours — synonymous with Mexican architecture — can release endorphins and provide a dopamine rush.  

“That colour palette is very Mexican,” she said. “Mexicans use very, very bright colours everywhere. Your house can be painted bright yellow, pink and that’s very normal.” 

In Sing, Don’t Cry, which will feature 19 pieces of artwork, Quintanilla Coates is looking to give people a similar hit of dopamine as the season shifts to fall and winter. She also says the collection will reflect a slice of her Mexican heritage with Canadians. (One piece of artwork features Sasamat Lake, an ode to her adopted home in the Tri-Cities.) 

“I feel like I’m bring in a little piece of me,” she said. “It’s in your face. It may be grey, rainy and dark at 4 p.m., but my painting is shining bright.” 

Quintanilla Coates started the year by refusing to say no. She’s ending it by saying yes to an opportunity she didn’t think was possible this time last year: a showcase of more than five dozen pieces of artwork, crafted in less than one year, to friends and strangers. 

“My goal is to show the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Quintanilla Coates said. 

The exhibit opens with a reception on Oct. 12 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is slated to run from Oct. 12 to 19. 

Correction: Sing, Don’t Cry will feature 19 pieces of artwork, not 66. One of Quintanilla Coates’ art pieces has 66 pieces of wood in it.