Evergon is an artist, a teacher, an activist, and a cultural icon. Throughout a prestigious career spanning more than 50 years, he has been recognized as being at the avant-garde of experimentation in the field of photography and lens-based mediums. He is an important precursor of homo-erotic contemporary art and iconic figure for the homosexual communities, and his works have been at the heart of numerous important exhibitions worldwide. His works are included in private and institutional collections among which are the Musée national des beaux arts du Québec, the National Gallery of Canada and the Giverny Capital Collection. Evergon: Théâtres de l’intime, a major retrospective of his works, was recently presented at the Musée national des beaux arts du Québec. Evergon lives and works in Montréal, Quebec.
“Through his art, he plainly represented human experiences that were personalized yet artistically common. Shaking up traditional social thinking, his work has brilliantly succeeded in formulating innumerable nuances of aesthetic judgement both in terms of formal and stylistic aspects and in terms of the subjects studied [...] Placing his own life at the forefront, as the main subject of his work, he has made a great contribution to Canadian art.”
Nominators: Karl-Gilbert Murray, critic and curator, and Jean-Jacques Ringuette, photography artist
See the artist’s works that are part of the Canada Council Art Bank collection.
“Shaking up traditional social thinking, his work has brilliantly succeeded in formulating innumerable nuances of aesthetic judgement.”
Selected works
Evergon, Evergon with Herons and Shells, 1979, Chromogenic print, 21.6 x 34.9 cm.
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario / George Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York.
Photo credit: Evergon
Evergon, The Deposition from the Cross, 1985, Polaroid, dyptych, 244.1 x 230 cm overall.
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario.
Photo credit: Evergon
Evergon, Two Violinists, 1990, Polaroid, 111.76 x 218.44 cm.
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec, Quebec.
Photo credit: Evergon
Evergon, Ramba Mama III, from The Ramboys: A Bookless Novel series, 1992, selenium-toned gelatin silver print from a Polaroid 655 negative, 126.7 x 105.2 cm.
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec, Quebec.
Photo credit: Evergon
Evergon, Margaret Standing (Front), from the series Margaret and I, 2002, selenium-toned gelatin silver print, from a Polaroid 655 negative, 229 x 122 cm.
Giverny Capital Collection, Montréal, Quebec.
Photo credit: Evergon
Evergon, Mystic Beach, 2011, lenticular print, 61 x 91.45 cm.
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta / Collection of the artist.
Photo credit: Evergon
Evergon and Jean-Jacques Ringuette: Chromogenic Curmudgeons, A Long Long Time Ago..., from the series Two Old Friends Play Chess, 2017, Inkjet print on archival paper from a 4 x 5" transparency, 101.6 x 127 cm.
Collection of the artists.
Photo credit: Jean-Jacques Ringuette and Evergon
Evergon and Jean-Jacques Ringuette: Chromogenic Curmudgeons, Old Hope – Hommage to Gustav Klimt, 2017, Inkjet printed on archival paper from a 4 x 5" transparency, 188 x 76.25 cm.
Collection of the artists.
Photo credit: Jean-Jacques Ringuette and Evergon
Evergon and Jean-Jacques Ringuette: Chromogenic Curmudgeons, Historian of the Ramboys (from an original idea of, and in collaboration with, Karl-Gilbert Murray), 2021, giclée print, 121.92 x 152.4 cm.
Collection of the artists.
Photo credit: Jean-Jacques Ringuette, Karl-Gilbert Murray and Evergon
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