Evergon (born Albert Jay Lunt, 1946), also known by the names of his alter-egos Celluloso Evergoni, Egon Brut, and Eve R. Gonzales, is a Canadian artist, teacher and activist.[1][2] Throughout his career, his work has explored photography and its related forms, including photo-collage, instant photography (discontinued Polaroid), colour photocopying, and holography.[3]

Evergon
Born
Albert Jay Lunt

1946 (age 77–78)
EducationMount Allison University BFA Rochester Institute of Technology MFA
Known forphotographer, teacher, activist

Career edit

Evergon was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, studied at Mount Allison University and graduated with a master's degree in fine arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1974.[3][4]

From the mid-1970s until 1999, Evergon taught in the fine arts program at the University of Ottawa. It was during this time that he established his reputation locally, nationally, and internationally.[5]

He taught at the University of Ottawa; Emily Carr School of Art, Vancouver, BC; Brock University, St. Catherines; the Ontario College of Art, Toronto; School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Bradford College and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, West Yorkshire, England. He retired in 2015 after being Associate Professor of Photography at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec since 1999. He currently lives and works in Montreal and is a professor emeritus at Concordia University.[6]

Work edit

Major themes in Evergon's work include personal sexuality, gender construction, aging, and body image. Evergon has described his work as homoerotic and pornographic.[7] His work frequently includes art historical references as well as questioning accepted interpretations of certain canonical art.[8] He was among the artists of the 1960s and 1970s who reacted against of the conventions of studio photography established through the post-World War II period.[3] Since the mid-to late 1970's, he has explored photographic technology in his work.[8][9]

Selected exhibitions edit

In 1988, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography organized a major retrospective of his work, Evergon: 1971-1987, which was exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada and toured nationally and internationally. In 1994 Evergon was the subjecto of a major solo show at the Ottawa Art Gallery.[5] Through his 1996 five-month residency at the Bradford Photography Fellowship, Evergon exhibited a major solo retrospective at the UK-based National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, which was accompanied by an Evergon 1987-1997 catalogue.[2]

In 2022, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec presented a major retrospective of his work titled Evergon:Theatres of the Intimate which featured 230 works.[10]

Selected public collections edit

His work is included in many public collections, including the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography; the National Gallery of Canada; the Edmonton Art Gallery; the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston; Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal; the Art Institute of Chicago; the International Center of Photography, NY; George Eastman House, Rochester, NY; the Polaroid International Collection, Frankfurt, Germany; Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne; and many others.[2]

Awards edit

Evergon's work has been recognized with awards from the Canada Council and Petro-Canada. In 1986, he was the recipient of the Canada Council's Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award[11] for his work with large format photography and in 1990 he received the Petro-Canada's Art and Technology Award for his work in holography.[2]

Awarded the 2023 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts for Artistic Achievement.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ Cousineau-Levine, Penny (2003). Faking Death: Canadian Art Photography and the Canadian Imagination. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 178. ISBN 9780773570955. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Evergon - BIOGRAPHY". www.scotiabank.com. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Russell, Bruce. "Evergon". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  4. ^ Lunt, Albert (1974). ""Photocollographic Iron Prints" (1974). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology". RIT Scholar Works. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b Burant, Jim (2022). Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0.
  6. ^ "Evergon". explore.concordia.ca. Concordia University, Montreal. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  7. ^ Burant, Jim (2022). Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0.
  8. ^ a b Langford, Martha (2010). "A Short History of Photography, 1900-2000". The Visual Arts in Canada: The Twentieth Century. Canada: Oxford. pp. 301–302. ISBN 978-0-19-542125-5. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  9. ^ Murray, Joan (1999). Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: Dundurn. p. 172. OCLC 260193722. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Exhibitions". www.mnbaq.org. MNBAQ. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Prizes". Canada Council. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  12. ^ "The Canada Council for the Arts Announces the 2023 Winners of the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts". Canada Council for the Arts. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.

Further reading edit

  • Burant, Jim. Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2022. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0
  • Love, Karen. The Bigger Picture: Portraits from Ottawa/Les mile et un visages d’Ottawa. Ottawa: Ottawa Art Gallery, 2003. ISBN 1-894906-17-9
  • Renaud, Jean-François, Bruce Hugh Russell, Alain Laframbroise, and Louis Cummins. Ramboys: A Bookless Novel and Other Fictions. Ottawa: Ottawa Art Gallery, 1995. ISBN 1-895108-20-9
  • Stapp, William F., and Lawrence Hill. Evergon, 1987-1997. Bradford, EN: National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television, 1997. ISBN 0948489170
  • Hanna, Martha. "Evergon: 1971-1987". librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca. Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  • Dazibao. Porcelaine: carte grise à Evergon. Montréal: Centre de photographies actuelles, 2003. ISBN 2922135209
  • Pageot, Edith-Anne. "Iconographie homoerotique et enjeux politiques dans l’oeuvre récente d’Evergon: Laval: Evergon, jeux de la passion/Passion Plays. Galerie Verticale Art contemporain." Etc Montréal. June–August 2010. Issue 90, pg 60. ISSN 0835-7641
  • Grino, Claire, ed. "Interview with: Evergon, Céline Cadaureille, David Bernagout, André Marceau, Jean-Pierre Ostende, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Carolee Schneemann, Esther Ferrer, Charles Dreyfus, Joël Hubaut, Amélie Laurence Fortin, La congelada de uva, Ron Athey, Anka Leśniak, Nadia Granados, BGL, Vasan Sitthiket, Cyril Lepetit." Inter. 2012. Issue 112. Pg 2-81. ISSN 0825-8708
  • Dalton, Derek. "Arresting images/fugitive testimony: the resistant photography of Evergon." Studies in Law, Politics, and Society. Fall 2004. Vol. 34. Pg 73–107. ISSN 1059-4337
  • Laframboise, Alain. "Le miroir d’Evergon." CV Photo. Ed: Jacques Doyon. 2002. Issue 58. Pg 9–11. ISSN 1196-9261
  • Blanche, Pierre, and Louis Jacob. Du fait d’appartenier: Moira Egan, Evergon, Kiku Hawkes, Judith Lermer Crawley, Ross Muirhead, David Rasmus, Greg Staats, George Webber, Kelly Wood, Kiki Yee. Montréal: Galerie VOX, Vox Populi, 1993. ISBN 2980160849
  • Howes, Jennifer. "The tragedy of being: Geneviève Cadieux, Donigan Cumming, Evergon and representation of other bodies." Advisor: Carol Payne. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0612834336
  • Cousineau-Levine, Penny. Faking death: Canadian art photography and the Canadian imagination. Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003. ISBN 9780773570955