Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Sorel Etrog: The Link Paintings

March 20 – May 8, 2010
SFU Gallery

Sorel Etrog is known mainly for his sculptural practice. His paintings—made in the face of the hegemony of Abstract Expressionism in the 1960s and 70s—countered high modernism by using modernism’s ‘tools’ against its instrumentalism. Etrog had long-standing associations with both Beckett and Ionesco; his post-modern questioning of the human condition in his art is of a piece with their works. His contorted bodies mirror human unfreedom; the ‘link paintings’ are examples of a painted theatre of the absurd, as well as metaphors for the fragility of bodies. They highlight the ways that different ‘parts’ of the self interact with or are controlled by other parts. The tool-like devices that join, say, mouth, knee, or hip to eye, make the case for an up-to-date ecology of the body that mirrors current biological knowledge as well as the reality of our inner workings. Sorel Etrog lives and works in Toronto.

The SFU Gallery extends thanks to Sorel Etrog for his support, as seven of the eight works in the exhibition are on loan from him. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Buschlen Mowatt Gallery. We also extend thanks to Barrie Mowatt and his staff for their support of this exhibition.

Curated by Bill Jeffries.

Events

Opening Reception
Saturday, March 20, 2010, 2–5 pm

Lunchtime Tours of the Exhibition
Tuesday, March 23, 12:05pm
Wednesday, March 24, 12:05pm
Thursday, March 25, 12:35pm
Friday, March 26, 12:35pm