Montreal-born artist Arnie Lipsey’s exhibit The Past Is Before You is on display now at the Museum of Jewish Montreal. Lipsey depicts everyday Jewish life in Eastern Europe and Montreal and the challenges of leaving your country, starting a new life, and preserving traditions. Throughout the exhibition, black and white family photographs are transformed into colourful acrylic portraits set against surreal, unfamiliar landscapes. The Past is Before You is on display through October 27, located at 5220 Saint Laurent Blvd.
As the son of Eastern-European Jewish immigrants who came to Montreal in the 1930s, Lipsey reimagines his family’s memories, addressing the strength that settling in a foreign nation requires. Lipsey elegantly described his unique approach as a “process of free-association and things that naturally occurred to me.”As he put it, “if it felt right, I incorporated it into the composition.” The exhibit space is light, airy, and surrounded by windows that frame the Plateau’s rich history and architecture, as the former centre of a vibrant working-class Jewish community. Many Jewish immigration stories are accompanied by photographs and questions about the past. Lipsey’s exhibit sparks conversations about how such photos and stories can be preserved and lifted up by art and cultural curiosity.
This Undoing World, one of the eighteen colourful canvases in the exhibit is based on a photograph of Lipsey’s mother carrying his aunt Eleanor on her back, drawing the title from playwright Tony Kushner’s song by the same name. Behind them, we see a rapidly spreading wildfire, representing the economic strife Lipsey’s family faced upon immigrating to Canada, contrasted by his mother’s strength as caregiver and protector of her family.
While the foreboding imagery in the painting induces fear, it also draws out hope as the mother carries her child away from harm’s way. Through Lipsey’s collection, current generations are confronted with the complexities of immigration and persecution, hence the direct address in the exhibit name: The Past is Before You. It is up to you, the viewer, to find meaning in your own heritage. With the help of cultural artifacts, traditions, and records, the present generation is encouraged to transform two-dimensional photographs into rich narratives, drawing on Lipsey's creative framework.
I was curious to find out what Lipsey himself had to say about the impact of retelling and recontextualizing his personal family stories through art. In an interview, Lipsey remarked on the universality of family experiences and how art brings about connection. He explained that “when you are personal about your work and authentic about it, that tends to resonate with people who don’t share your background [...] or family story.” Lipsey’s work facilitates an effective dialogue between the past and present, using art to preserve and honour ancestral memories in the midst of hardship.
The Museum of Jewish Montreal is open from Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday until 4 p.m. Students are welcome to enter for free or to pay what they can—with a suggested donation of $8. Don’t forget to look into Lipsey’s other works at arnielipsey.com for a fuller picture of his art!
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