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Sorel Etrog:
Painted Constructions, 1952-1960
Buschlen Mowatt Fine Arts
Vancouver BC – Jun 5-30, 2006
Sorel Etrog, Cello Sonata (1954-55), oil on shaped panel [Buschlen Mowatt Fine Arts, Vancouver BC, Jun 5-30]
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Sorel Etrog was born in Romania in 1933 and studied art in Tel Aviv during the 1950s. In what has been described as “a rebellion against the tyranny of the frame”, Etrog began constructing and painting wood reliefs. He had his first Canadian solo exhibition at Gallery Moos, Toronto in 1959 and became a Canadian citizen in 1966. During his 50-year career, he has also excelled at steel constructions, bronze sculpture and writing plays, poetry and non-fiction.
This rare exhibit presents eight major sculptural pieces from the 1950s, as well as, small, delicate preliminary drawings on paper. The hard-edged, curvilinear relief forms are highlighted by small details reminiscent of hand-crafted musical instruments or mechanical components. They are painted with a mix of saturated and muted colours that appear stained into the wood.
Sorel Etrog, Bet-Gimel-Vav (1955), watercolour and ink on paper [Buschlen Mowatt Fine Arts, Vancouver BC, Jun 5-30]
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Etrog currently lives and works in both Toronto and New York. Named a “National Living Treasure” and in 1994 made a member of the Order of Canada, he is Canada’s senior living sculptor. His work has been collected by the Tate, London; Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris; National Gallery of Canada; Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea. He is a contemporary of Eugene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, John Cage and Marshall McLuhan, among others, with whom he has collaborated in the past.
www.bushlenmowatt.ca
Sorel Etrog, Composition (Harbour VI) (1955-56), oil on shaped panel [Buschlen Mowatt Fine Arts, Vancouver BC, Jun 5-30]
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