Description

Meandering through Québec’s art community in the 1950s and 1960s, from galleries and theatres to artists’ studios and apartments, Montréal photographer John Max (1936–2011) captured images that record both legendary and forgotten figures of the time. In the course of his research into Max’s archives, art historian Michel Hardy-Vallée saw a history unfold, that of artistic life in the midst of modernization in Québec, which he proceeded to tell through a selection of the photographer’s earliest contact sheets and negatives.

Introducing this series of photographs, Michel Hardy-Vallée offers an account of his research, which led him to attempt to identify certain faces and to reflect on the different relationships that can develop in the art ecosystem. A poem by writer and filmmaker Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette takes a personal and contemporary look at this body of work, exploring its potential to instill a sense of belonging to history in the present time.