Joey Schwartzman was born and grew up in Montreal. He perceived himself to be a poet but was involved on the fringes of the visual arts scene surrounding Concordia University. He was a contributor to the Montreal art notebooks fo the early 70s. In 1980 he published two books of poetry but found himself drawn to the visual arts. Recently he completed a BFA at UBC. In 1986 he received the Helen Pitt Award for fine arts.