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Liliana Berezowsky
- born in 1944 in Krakow, Poland
- immigrated to Canada in 1948
- graduated from the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
with a B.A. in Sociology, obtained a diploma in ceramics technology from John Abbott
College, Montréal, Québec, and a B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Concordia University, Montréal,
Québec
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at left to view larger images
Liliana Berezowsky has described the intention behind her
sculpture as the desire to defamiliarize, to create concrete forms that are undoubtedly
solid and real, yet that upset our understanding of reality. Seeming to revolve around a
notion of ambiguity, these sculptures appear to exist as active doubt, partly created by
the unsettling juxtaposition of materials which she uses. Taking inspiration from
todays industrial landscape, particularly in her use of steel as an element of
beauty and tactility, Berezowsky twists the shapes and materials of machinery, creating
new forms that contradict their origin with their own inability to function. Jenyk IV (1990)
is a complicated structure that involves connecting a bunch of floor-level iron spikes to
four larger, hanging metal forms, using four cords that travel up to the ceiling from the
spikes, and across a room to the hanging structures. On a personal level Berezowsky
expressed in this piece the breakdown of her marriage and its impact on her family
members, represented by the four hung pieces of metal. It invokes a critique of male and
female divisions, authority, and issues of labour (the spikes on the floor relating
visually to the needle trades of early Montréal). The piece is also a commentary on the
hierarchy of nature, the existence of large forms which are, in fact, constructed of many
smaller entities. "That is clearly the story of our artifacts, from swords and
ploughshares to computers and such massive and complex instruments as particle
accelerators. No matter how complex and ingenious such things are, their origin, their
persistence and their functions depend upon being assemblages of smaller entities arranged
in a certain order. But it is also the story--or part of the story--of ourselves as
organisms . . ." (Berezowsky, 1998). In Antigone VII (1991), a gigantic
soaring steel structure shaped like the wing of an airplane, Berezowsky refers to the
connection between myth and technology, inserting a skeletal wooden flap, reminiscent of
the wings of Icarus, into the powerful steel wing. It also refers, on a personal level, to
Berezowskys own survival of a plane crash at eighteen. The title, recalling
Antigone, again goes back to myth and Antigones choosing of the laws of Zeus over
the laws of men, redefining the rules for herself to make them fit her needs, even if it
meant her ultimate acceptance of death. Her large-scale work includes numerous public
pieces, such as a sculpture on the corner of Laurier and Esplanade in Montréal entitled A
la lisière du ciel (1990) and a work for the international sculptural symposium in
Longueuil, Québec, in 1995. Around that time, she began to explore the effect of smaller
formats and the addition of text, both inviting viewers to experience the work more
intimately, and baffling them in her continued use of ambiguous objects. Such works
include Lecriture blanche (1994), a small white book enclosed in a glass case
on top of a steel table, and When I say I love you I am looking at my reflection in
your eyes (1994), consisting of a teardrop-shaped mirror, inscribed with the title of
the piece, sitting on a steel pedestal. In 1998, Berezowsky created the installation If
I give the image an architecture, can it solidify the passing moment . . . using sleek
black columns posed in a room where the walls were decorated by her with architectural
markings, bits of archway and window. She refers to the column as sexual symbol, to its
ability to represent a gateway or a passage into another world, and to the Biblical
references to pillars as symbols of strength, and order. Projecting onto the wall slides
of human bodies, engaged in loving caresses, Berezowsky also comments on the relationships
between body and architecture, architectural interior and exterior mirroring human
interior and exterior. The bodys physical wear, and its ability and loves
ability to endure over time, is pitted against the strength of the architecture that is
built to withstand the elements and to last throughout time. Currently Berezowsky is a
fine arts instructor at Montréals Concordia University.
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1998 |
Centre
international d'art contemporain de Montréal (C.I.A.C), Montréal, Québec |
1996
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Espace 502,
Montréal, Québec "Je suis une guerrière
. . ."
Galerie l'oeil de poisson, Québec, Québec
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1995
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Take Out Your Stories and
Trade Them Like Seeds
Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, OntarioÉpandez
vos histoires, troquez-les comme des semences
Performance: Little Red Riding Hood
Axe Néo-7, Hull, Québec
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1993
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Reweaving the
Web
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, OntarioExpression Gallery, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec
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1992 |
Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto,
Ontario |
1991 |
Brenda Wallace
Gallery, Montréal, Québec Bishop's University,
Lennoxville, Québec
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1989 |
Galerie d'art
centre Saidye Bronfman/Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montréal,
Québec Glendon Gallery, York University, Toronto,
Ontario
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1987
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John A. Schweitzer
Gallery, Montréal, Québec |
1985 |
John A. Schweitzer
Gallery, Montréal, Québec |
1984 |
Cement / Steel
Galerie d'art centre Saidye Bronfman/Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the
Arts, Montréal, Québec |
1980 |
Centre culturel,
Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec |
1979 |
Marks/Materials
Gallery 08, John Abbott College, Montréal, Québec |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1998 |
Offrandes VI (benefit exhibition)
Societé de musique contemporain du Québec, Montréal, QuébecTemps composés
Musée d'art de Joliette, Joliette, Québec
Arts-travaganza
Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
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1997 |
Exhibition of the Permanent
Collection
Musée du Québec, Québec, QuébecEn
Cause: Brancusi (benefit exhibition)
Axe Néo-7, Hull, Québec
Offrandes III (benefit exhibition)
Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Montréal, Québec
Concordia University Fine Arts Faculty Exhibition
Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
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1996 |
Art public - modèles réduits
Vieux palais, Saint-Jérome, QuébecExhibition
of the Permanent Collection
Musée de beaux-arts de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Concordia University Fine Arts Faculty Exhibition
Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal Québec
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1995 |
The Tearing of Angels
Expression Gallery, Saint-Hyacinthe, QuébecCentre
international d'art contemporain de Montréal (C.I.A.C.) (benefit exhibition) Montréal,
Québec
Terre gravide . . . émergence
Colloque international de sculpture, Longueuil, Québec
Gifts 1989-1994
Musée d'art contemporain, Montréal, Québec
The Common Hand
Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
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1994 |
De Causis et Tractatibus (benefit
exhibition)
Axe Néo-7, Hull, Québec The Tearing of
Angels
Musée régionale de la Côte-Nord, Sept-Îles, Québec
Répresentation en sculpture: théâtre d'une
répétition: 2e salon international de sculpture extèrieure de Montréal, Le Vieux
Port de Montréal / The Old Port, Montréal, Québec
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1993 |
Biennale of Drawings Prints and Paper
Alma, Québec Les ateliers
s'exposent
Cobalt Art, Montréal, Québec
Benefit Auction
Musée d'art contemporain, Montréal, Québec
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1992
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Fine Arts Faculty Exhibition
Concordia University Art Gallery, Montréal, QuébecSculpture Symposium
Trois Rivières, Québec
Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
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1991 |
Drawing on the Permanent Collection
Concordia University Art Gallery, Montréal, QuébecSilence Elles Tournent (benefit exhibition)
Montréal, Québec
Recent Acquisitions
Concordia University Art Gallery, Montréal, Québec
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1990
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Expressions plurielles
Musée du Québec, Grand théâtre du Québec, Québec, QuébecVisions 90
Centre international d'art contemporain de Montréal (C.I.A.C), Place du Parc
Montréal, Québec
Estampes
Graff Gallery, Montréal, Québec
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1989 |
Fine Arts Faculty Exhibition
Concordia University, Montréal, Québec |
1989-88 |
Berlin/Montréal
Galerie d'art centre Saidye Bronfman/Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the
Arts; Lavalin Collection of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal,
Québec; Goethe Institute, Montréal, QuébecA.E.G.
Complex and Westende Banhoff, West Berlin, Germany
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1988 |
Espace Segal Steinberg, Montréal, Québec Galerie Trois Points, Montréal, Québec
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1987 |
Femmes forces
Musée du Québec, Québec, QuébecDe fer
et d'acier
Lavalin Collection of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Québec
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1986 |
Art Bank of Canada, Australia Des mots pour créer
Saint Leonard, Québec
Artists choose artists
John A. Schweitzer Gallery, Montréal, Québec
Tout l'art de monde
Québec; Sherbrooke; Gatineau; Mont Laurier; Université de Québec à Montréal,
Montréal, Québec (travelling)
|
1985 |
The Totemic Impulse
John A. Schweitzer Gallery , Montréal, QuébecTout l'art de monde
Regards
Place du Parc, Montréal, Québec
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1984 |
Deuxième Salon des galeries d'art
Montréal, Québec |
1982 |
'83-'84
V.A.V. Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec |
1978 |
Gallery 08, John Abbott College,
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec |
COLLECTIONS
Alcan
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
Government of Québec, Ministry of Culture and Immigration, Québec, Québec,
Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, British Columbia
Laurentian University Museum, Sudbury, Ontario
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Musée d'art de Joliette, Joliette, Québec
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
Musée du Québec, Québec, Québec
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
Steinberg Corporation
Trisam Corporation |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Asselin, Hedwidge. "Berezowsky et la
sculpture-construction." Espace 6, no.3 (Spring 1990): 47. Baert, Renée. "On Liliana Berezowsky." Canadian Art
(Winter 1989): 86.
Berezowsky, Liliana. "From the private . . . to the
public." Espace (Fall 1994): 43-45.
Bogardi, George. Liliana Berezowsky. Montréal,
Québec: Centre Saidye Bronfman, 1989.
Dumont, Jean. "Objects and Reflections." Espace
37 (Fall 1996): 5-8.
McGrath, Donald. "Liliana Berezowsky." Parachute
56 (October/ November/ December 1989): 67-68.
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