McCord 2017: Gabor Szilasi

GABOR SZILASI

THE ART WORLD IN MONTREAL, 1960-1980

December 7, 2017 - April 29, 2018

Gabor Szilasi is a renowned Montreal’s photographer.  This exhibition consists of 43 black and white photographs from the artist's personal collection, 40 of which have never been published and were printed especially for this exhibition.

The exhibited photographs were taken at exhibition openings and other artistic events held in Montreal between 1960 and 1980, and are presented in chronological order. They immortalize galleries that no longer exist, several artists, faces, places and vitality of Montreal's art life at a time of social and cultural upheaval. Shot in a spontaneous documentary style, they capture the art scene of the 1960s and 1970s, a period of great artistic growth and diversification when art was coming into its own in Quebec. Szilasi's images show the restrained elegance of the early 1960s, which slowly gave way to an atmosphere of enthusiasm by the end of the decade, before settling into a mood of relaxed irreverence in the 1970s. Although Gabor Szilasi is one of Quebec's best-known living photographers, this significant aspect of his work has never been exhibited before.

The exhibition offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the artist’s substantial photographic archive consisting of over 100 rolls of film, or approximately 3,600 negatives. Equipped with a 35-mm camera, the photographer shot, printed and archived the images with a method used in the latter half of the 20th century and now largely obsolete. Contact sheets are an integral part of this mode of photography, so they are included in the exhibition with items like Szilasi's camera, negatives and notebook. These items, representing the material nature of the artist’s archive, provide an insight into his creative process.

"As part of our mandate to feature the best in documentary photography from here and abroad, the Museum is honoured to present, for the second time since 2010, the work of Gabor Szilasi," stated Suzanne Sauvage, President and Chief Executive Officer of the McCord Museum. "A major figure in Quebec photography, Szilasi has influenced an entire generation and created an exceptional record of a period in the cultural history of Montreal."

Gabor Szilasi at the press conference 

Gabor Szilasi at his McCord exhibition

Photographer Gabor Szilasi

Photographer Gabor Szilasi was born in Hungary in 1928 and immigrated to Canada in 1957. Soon after settling in Montreal, Szilasi began to photograph the many art openings that he and his lifelong companion, artist Doreen Lindsay, regularly attended. Over the next few decades he produced an extensive photographic record of the individuals that made up Montreal’s visual arts community, a number of whom would shape the history of art in Canada. Presented at McCord Museum for the first time as a body of work, these images exemplify Szilasi’s long-standing fascination with people and, in particular, artists. Photographing openings may at first have helped him integrate into the local art scene, but it evolved into a way of acknowledging the affective relationships that bound him to his adopted city.

Numerous activities like lectures, meetings and film screenings are being organized in concert with the exhibition. The Museum is also marking the occasion with a new annual membership category aimed specifically at photographers, both amateur and professional. A description and schedule of the programming can be consulted at the McCord Museum's Website, on the calendar of activities and the membership inscription page.

Click on images to enlarge them.

All photos in this article © Nadia Slejskova