Tom GIBSON

TOM GIBSON It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Thomas Kent Hamilton
Gibson, renowned painter, photographer and educator, who passed away
at his Montréal home on June 1, 2021, at the age of 90.

Initially a painter, he later pursued photography, and was instrumental in
setting up the photography department at Concordia University. Working
with fellow photographer and lifelong friend Gabor Szilasi, among many
others, he was influential as an artist and teacher. His work is found in
galleries and collections across the country and abroad, including the
National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary
Photography, the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman
House (Rochester, New York) and the Art Gallery of Ontario. His most recent
show, Trois Photographes Montréalais +, was exhibited in 2021 at the
McClure Gallery in Montréal.

Tom was born in Edinburgh on December 11, 1930, and spent his teenage
years in the Scottish Merchant Navy, as a marine engineer and radio
operator, travelling extensively throughout the Middle East and Africa.
When his 5-year contract expired, he and some friends departed for Canada,
where he spent most of his adult life - living first in Toronto, then moving to
Montréal in the mid 1970s.

In Toronto, through friend and artist, Bob Cowan, Tom was introduced to Av
Isaacs, owner of a framing shop which eventually became the prestigious Av
Isaacs Gallery. Through the gallery he met future art stars, Graham Coughtry,
Michael Snow and Gordon Rayner. At that time, Tom was studying painting
with fellow countryman Jock MacDonald at the Ontario College of Art in
night school. One of the few jobs for painters at the time belonged to the
newly emerging industry of television; Tom credits painting sets for the CBC
with learning how to paint and getting paid for it. There he met John Gould,
whom he would later (in 1967), accompany to Pikangikum, an Indigenous
village of around 200 in northern Ontario. Gould had been commissioned
by the National Film Board to produce an animated film. Tom extensively
documented life in the community. Later some of the images were acquired
by the NFB.

Tom was introduced to Dorothy Cameron by Harold Town, which eventually
resulted in a show at her gallery. In 1962, as Tom's reputation grew, he and
Kazuo Nakamura, one of the Painters Eleven, were invited as the Canadian
representatives to the Artists International Seminar at Fairleigh Dickenson
University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Here he was exposed to New York artists,
which precipitated a short-lived move to New York. Later he started showing
with the Gerald Morris Gallery in Toronto.
Tom had begun to take photographs, initially as a reference for scenic
paintings, but as his interest grew in the medium, he painted less. With his
friend and fellow nascent photographer, Vincent Sharp, he searched for
subject matter: ""I was looking for something else that I could bring from
photography into painting. There were political or social concerns that
were difficult to express in painting that I thought I could work out through
photography"". In 1968, Tom received a grant from the Canada Council to
photograph in Mexico. ""I was learning a lot about printing and in a way
in which a documentary photographer would approach a subject: a sort
of dramatization; the use of light in that manner; looking for the great
dramatic moment. I was struggling with this and at the same time I was
photographing on the street.""
Nathan Lyons, who had started the graduate program in photography at
the George Eastman House in Rochester, invited Tom to participate in the
Visual Studies Workshop. There, he was introduced to a larger photographic
community, hitherto unknown to Tom, including Jim Borcoman from the
National Gallery who was interested in acquiring photographs, and many
other participants, including Bill Edwards and Lionel Suntop who founded
Light Impressions. He met Robert Frank who became a friend and influence.
While at the Workshop, Tom designed the format for the influential
photography magazine Afterimage. Returning to Toronto, he involved
himself in the foundation of Mind and Sight Gallery and in association with
A Space, he and a collective of photographers invited visiting artists Duane
Michaels, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander and Ralph Gibson to Toronto to
talk about their work.

Gallery owner Loretta Yarlow, an early proponent of contemporary
photographers, describes public perceptions of the time: ""Photography back
then still was under-recognized as an art form and wasn't as widely accepted
nor dominant in the art market as it is today. We all felt like pioneers, and
Tom was one of the innovators."" Tom continued photographing; he was also
teaching at Ryerson Technical College, York University and the University
of Ottawa. He was defining his work, ""It was all experimental to a certain
extent. Looking at the photographs, and trying to understand, discovering
details within the photograph that I could interpret metaphorically, led me
to start looking at photography in a different way.""
Hired for his photographic experience, he drew on his credibility as a
painter with other faculty at Concordia University at a time when there was
skepticism toward establishing a dedicated photography MFA programme.
Over many years he assembled a talented group of artists and teaching staff
and broadened the scope of the course, occasionally wrestling university
bureaucracy. By the time he retired, Concordia had developed a photography
programme – the first of its kind in Canada - of the highest level, recognized
nationally and internationally. Admired for his quiet competence, kindness
and generosity Tom achieved a legacy as an important educator and artist.
With a good sense of humour, he was particularly entertaining to his young
children as a storyteller. As a lover of good food and company, his friends
enjoyed evening meals and weekend brunches at his house. He loved his
self-built comfortable home, surrounded by books and art, and spending
time in his flowered garden.

He is survived by Helena, his companion and wife of 40 years; his first wife
of 25 years, Lily and their children, Gabhan (Gillian), Siubhan (Chris) and Niall;
grandchildren, Sorcha (Lucas), Celeste (Julieta), Rafe (Reece) and Kiyoshi;
and his loving family in Scotland. His first son, Iain, died in 1980.

Please consider a donation in Tom's name to Earthroots (www.Earthroots.
org), a conservation organization close to Tom's heart.