Fonds P0284 - Tom Gibson fonds

Tom Gibson was an artist and an associate professor at the Studio Arts department of Concordia University. Born in Edinburgh, he spent the beginning of his adult life travelling before moving to Montreal in the mid-1970s. His first artistic practice was painting but by the mid-60s, he had already made photography his main media. Gibson started teaching photography at Concordia University in 1976. He created the first photography MFA program at the Faculty of Fine Arts - the first of this kind in Canada. In 1982, the Gallery II at the Sir George Williams Art Galleries presented the show ‘Tom Gibson: Selected Photographs 1965-1980’. In 1985, he was Director of Graduate Studio Arts at Concordia University. He sat on the Council of the Faculty of Fine Arts from 1985-1986 to 1988-1989. Gibson was a member of the Board of Graduate Studies in 1986-1987 as a representative of the Faculty of Fine Arts. In 1993, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (CMCP) organized a retrospective exhibition and catalogue of his work titled ‘Tom Gibson: False Evidence Appearing Real’ at the Saydie Bronfman Centre. Gibson retired from Concordia in 1996. In April 2006, the Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery presented the show ‘Collection 2: Sur le vif’, featuring works by Tom Gibson and Sam Tata. The McClure Gallery in Montreal presented his last exhibition ‘Three Montreal Photographer’ in May 2021. Tom Gibson passed away on June 1, 2021. His works remain presented in many collections including those of the National Gallery of Canada, the International Museum of Photography in Rochester, New York, and the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

• Tom Gibson received his first Canada Council of Arts award in 1968 to photograph in Mexico.
• Gibson was also instrumental in the creation of the undergraduate program in photography, along with Gabor Szilasi, Katherine Tweedie and Tim Clark in 1982-1983.