There's a farm up in the Ottawa Valley that has been a nexus for rural queers, fringe homos, Radical Faeries and other eccentrics for more than thirty years.
It's off the grid, heat comes from wood stoves. Until the late 80s it was a functioning farm. Some know it as Ken's farm (after the owner, Ken Hillis); it's also known as Amber Fox. When I first went to a Radical Faery gathering there in 1992, I was introduced to one of the buildings as "The Studio." Of course I had to know -- whose studio?
Evergon (aka Celluloso Evergoni, Egon Brut, Eve R. Gonzales), well-known Canadian artist, lived and worked there between 1973 and 1981. He was born in 1946 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. He studied at the Rochester Institute of
Technology in the early 1970s. Throughout his career his work has used the medium of photography and photo-collage, and he has addressed issues of personal sexuality and gender construction. While working in this relatively new medium, Evergon frequently refers to and questions the accepted interpretations of historical art.
The following interview with Evergon was conducted on Sunday November 21, 2004, at Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, by Bill Pusztai.
Read the interview hereImage "Terry and Big Muffin" byEvergon from the Canadian Encyclopedia.
6 comments:
wow, thanks for that post. I had only limited knowledge as a gay activist of Evergon, I did see a show in Vancouver some years ago. To find he was also connected to The Land puts another perspective in place. I know when I get back to Amber Fox I will have another look at the Lounge aka the studio.
His encounter with a bear make the "scat" story on the blog Saturday even more interesting.
I also think his description of himself as a Polar Bear bang on! Thanks RadicalBaerie
I've know Evergon since the mid seventies. He's a facinating guy. I've always been a big fan of his work. I was lucky to visit his studio on the land at akaAmberFox (way before it was called AmberFox) which is now the Lounge.
Hi Claude
Could you share any stories about the time or Amber Fox today?
Do we have a credit for the second picture of Evergon? Or even, god forbid, permission to use it?
Hey Radical baerie,
We can use articles/images under fair use rules. I will be posting them soon. The second image is credited to Canadian Encyclopedia. If you click on the pic it actually takes you to the file on their website. I have also linked directly to their entry on Evergon.
Should either Evergon or Canadian Encyclopedia request further acknowledgement we would provide that.
If you are on the land for the Eastre gathering it would be great to talk about all these things!
I wrote an article about him "Celluloso Evergoni" way back in the 1980s after the Body Politic folded in a possible successor to that now famous publication. I met him years later, at his studio in Montreal. I have always been a fan of his vignettes. I'm thrilled to be going up to Amber Fox for a gathering for the first time this week. I don't know why it took me so long to hear about Amber Fox - my family farm is on the Perth Road for heaven's sake!
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