The eloquent visions of Gabor Szilasi

The 81-year-old Grosvenor Avenue resident spent several hours talking to visitors, signing copies of the exhibition catalogue, and commenting on some of the 130 photographs selected for the exhibition by curator David Harris.

Titled 'The Eloquence of the Everyday', the exhibition covers the breadth of Szilasi's long career, from dramatic works of photojournalism taken during the 1956 revolution in his native Hungary, to portraits

of Montreal and noted Montrealers. The man and his camera were present at many socially significant events — as attested through images of a book bonfire in mid-1950s Hungary to a single young Quebecois holding the venerated fleur-de-lys during the 1970 St. Jean Baptiste parade.

A significant part of the exhibition is taken up by Szilasi's documentary photos of life in rural Quebec during the 1960s and early '70s. The residents of villages such as Saint-Hilarion and Lotbinière paused to pose for Szilasi's camera as they went about their everyday lives — those eloquent moments of the title — allowing him to capture forever that bygone era of long sideburns, stubby beer bottles and general stores festooned with rusty tin Pepsi and 7-Up signs.

This show is not to be missed, but for those who may not be able to make the hour-long trip out to Joliette, a smaller Szilasi show, 'Quebec by Heart', opens June 4 at the Méridien Versailles Hotel, 1808 Sherbrooke St. W at the corner of St. Mathieu Street. It runs through September 6. • 'The Eloquence of the Everyday' by Gabor Szilasi, remains on exhibit through August 30 at the Musée d'Art de Joliette, 145 rue du Père-Wilfrid-Corbeil in Joliette, Que. For more information, call 450-756-0311 or visit www.museejoliette.org