Jorge Zontal

Birthplace

Parma, Italy

Biography

Slobodan Saia-Levy (born 1944 in Parma, Italy – February 3, 1994), publicly known as Jorge Zontal, was a Canadian artist. Zontal was born in Parma, Italy, in 1944, the son of Yugoslav refugees. He grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and in 1968 he earned a degree in architecture at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he also studied film making and acting. Zontal died on February 3, 1994 of AIDS-related causes. Soon after graduation, he met Felix Partz and AA Bronson while working on a film in Toronto and their group, General Idea, soon became an active part of the Canadian and then the international art scene.