General Idea
Life & Work by Sarah E.K. Smith
Notes
Biography
1. General Idea, “Glamour,” FILE, vol. 3, no. 1 (Fall 1975): 21.
2. AA Bronson notes that General Idea objected to the term “collective,” instead choosing to model
the group after a rock band. They preferred to refer to themselves as an artists’ group. Bronson,
correspondence with author, August 25, 2015.
3. Gabe met Bronson (then Tims), who was also a student at the university, in 1966, but they were
not close. In Bronson’s words, Gabe was then “known as a talented maverick.” Bronson recounted
viewing an installation Gabe had created at the time and being “devastated by the contemporaneity
of his vision.” AA Bronson, Negative Thoughts (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,
2001), 29.
4. Annette Mangaard, General Idea: Art, AIDS and the fin de siècle (DVD, 48:00, 2007); “Felix
Partz, a.k.a. Ron Gabe, April 23, 1945–June 5, 1994,” Correspondence Series, Business, General
Idea fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives, Ottawa. AA Bronson notes that Partz
failed the course. Bronson, correspondence with author, January 3, 2016.
5. AA Bronson, correspondence with author, January 3, 2016.
6. Annette Mangaard, General Idea: Art, AIDS and the fin de siècle (DVD, 48:00, 2007); “Jorge
Zontal,” Correspondence Series, Business, General Idea fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library
and Archives, Ottawa.
7. See “Ruins in Process, Vancouver Art in the Sixties,” for an image of Zontal in Hay’s workshop
with other artists, http://vancouverartinthesixties.com/archive/524.
8. Originally, Saia-Levy had only intended to stop in Toronto to make a 16mm film about a
production at Theatre Passe Muraille. AA Bronson, correspondence with author, August 24, 2015;
Annette Mangaard, General Idea: Art, AIDS and the fin de siècle (DVD, 48:00, 2007); “Jorge
Zontal,” Correspondence Series, Business, General Idea fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library
and Archives, Ottawa.
9. AA Bronson, “AA Bronson on Art in the ’60s,” University of Chicago, February 10, 2012,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXoWTBVVeHc.
10. Describing their meeting, Bronson stated, “Jorge was there, a little retiring, at the back of the
group, his eyes liquid with affection for me: love at first sight.” AA Bronson, Negative Thoughts
(Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2001), 25.
11. AA Bronson quoted in Christina Richie, “Allusions, Omissions, Cover-ups: The Early Days,” The
Search for the Spirit: General Idea 1968–1975 (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1997), 13.
12. AA Bronson notes that Paige introduced Gabe to Saia-Levy and Tims and advocated for them
all to move in to 78 Gerrard Street West, with several other friends. Her motivation was to keep Gabe
from returning to Winnipeg. Bronson, correspondence with author, January 3, 2016.
13. AA Bronson, correspondence with author, August 25, 2015. Coach House Press was, at the
time, also part of Rochdale College.
14. AA Bronson, “Interview with Anne Pasternak and AA Bronson,” Creative Time (October 2008),
http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2008/invocation/interview.html; Fern Bayer, “Uncovering the
Roots of General Idea: A Documentation and Description of Early Projects, 1968–1975,” The
Search for the Spirit: General Idea 1968–1975 (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1997), 29.
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