Arnie Lipsey: Past. Tense.

This solo exhibition by animator and artist Arnie Lipsey presents a series of 40 paintings at the Aurora Cultural Centre. Each work is a technicolor reinterpretation of monochrome family archive photos, blending historical records with imagination to explore the artist's Jewish-Canadian heritage and the concept of postmemory—the way trauma from previous generations is internalized through stories and cultural memory.

The show specifically traces a family history shaped by immigration and the silence surrounding past events. Lipsey, whose parents escaped Nazi persecution and immigrated to Montreal, uses symbolic language and unexpected juxtapositions to reveal the layers through which family narratives are reimagined. One notable piece, "Gallery View," depicts a young boy whose story reflects the impact of political upheaval and family separation.

Curated by Ashlyn Gregory, the exhibition features selected works with extended labels to provide deep narrative context, while others are left open for personal reflection. This intentional balance encourages visitors to project their own experiences onto the canvases and consider the gaps between documented history and what can only be imagined.