Sorel Etrog: Anatomy of Tension
Curated by Noor Alé
Drawn from the MacLaren’s Permanent Collection, this exhibition presents works on paper by Romanian-born Israeli-Canadian artist Sorel Etrog (1933–2014). Etrog was a survivor of Nazi Germany’s occupation of Romania. Anatomy of Tension explores the artist’s interests in the paradoxical forces that characterize our human condition—freedom and bondage, movement and stasis, hope and despair—offering quiet ruminations on the human psyche.
work
Featured Work
Trees, 1969-97
Hand coloured serigraph on paper
Gift of the artist, 1998
Untitled Orange, 1965
Intaglio on paper, A.P. II.
Gift of the artist, 1999
Hingescape I, 1978
Lithograph on paper, A.P.
Gift of the artist, 1999
Frederick Hagan
Skeleton Shore Timbers, 1966
polymer on Masonite
137.16 x 121.92 cm
Collection of the MacLaren Art Centre
Gift of the artist, 2002
Fred Hagan’s practice engaged in the themes of Canadian history, geography and culture, and derived inspiration from the rocky hills and lakes that shape Northern Ontario. Skeleton Shore Timbers memorializes Hagan’s family’s roots in Muskoka by depicting generations of men—among them his father and grandfather—working on a dock along the shores of Skeleton Lake. Immersed in the landscape, the men’s elongated bodies overlap; this layering suggests the shared histories, memories and experiences of the Hagan family in the region.
Frederick Hagan studied art at the Ontario College of Art & Design. He exhibited his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa; and the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives, Brampton. His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Glenbow Museum, Calgary; and the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. The artist was born in 1918 in Toronto and passed away in 2003 in Newmarket.
George Littlechild
Centre of the Universe, 1992
aquarelle crayon on paper
75 x 106.5 cm
Collection of the MacLaren Art Centre
Gift of Beverley and Boris Zerafa, 2003
Centre of the Universe is a vibrant self-portrait of Plains Cree artist George Littlechild rendered in aquarelle crayons on paper. Emerging from the centre of the earth, the artist is shown against a backdrop of illuminating celestial bodies—among them stars, moons and suns. In this work, he employs powerful imagery; the rising hands from the earth’s core and surface are gestures of reclamation and resiliency, symbolizing Indigenous sovereignty. By uniting his body with the earth, Littlechild references the Cree worldview, particularly the belief in humanity and nature’s harmonious interconnection.
George Littlechild earned a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He has exhibited his work at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg; the Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff; and the National Museum of the North American Indian, Washington. Littlechild is a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, a coercive governmental adoption program that separated thousands of Indigenous children from their families and communities. In his practice, he strives to reclaim his family history, cultural identity and ancestral lineage.
Sadko Hadžihasanović
Orange Jeans, 2014
oil on panel
76 x 61 cm
Collection of the MacLaren Art Centre
Gift of the artist, 2016
Sadko Hadžihasanović is known for his representational paintings and drawings that combine rich narrative elements with social commentary and moments of wry humour. In recent years he has been painting the Balkan Roma, a marginalized ethnic group in Southeastern Europe. Orange Jeans and Two Brothers depict young Roma men posing on the streets of the Radojevo, a village in northern Serbia. Prejudice has and continues to be a reality for Roma people, sometimes referred to as “gypsies,” a pejorative term associated with illegality and irregularity. In these sincere works, Hadžihasanović depicts his subjects with a disarming sense of care and a desire to quell stereotypes that persist around the Roma people.
Hadžihasanović was born in Bihac, Bosnia in 1959 and immigrated to Toronto in 1993. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and earned his MFA at the University of Belgrade in 1984. He has participated in over thirty exhibitions in public galleries and artist-run centres across Canada and internationally. Hadžihasanović is represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art in Toronto. He has taught at Georgian College since 2010, and he lives and works in Toronto.
Anatomy of Tension explores Sorel Etrog’s interests in the paradoxical forces that characterize our human condition—freedom and bondage, movement and stasis, hope and despair—and how they are connected through the recurring motif of the chain link. In Etrog’s words, the chain link is “a strong device for connecting and creating tension, mirroring the tension in our very existence with and within the outside world.” Drawn from the MacLaren’s Permanent Collection, Etrog’s drawings and prints from the 1960s and 1970s include portraits of unknown men and the artist’s hands, studies of languid bathers and stretching dancers, and compositions of bulls and landscapes where chain links feature as enigmatic symbols of connection that are central to the mechanisms of existence.
Sorel Etrog was born in 1933 in Iasi, Romania. In 1950, he immigrated to Israel and studied at the Tel Aviv Institute of Art. In 1953, Etrog continued his studies at the Brooklyn Museum Art Institute and a decade later settled in Toronto. He represented Canada at the Venice Biennale alongside artists Alex Colville and Yves Gaucher in 1966. His work is collected by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the Singapore Art Museum. The artist died in Toronto in 2014.
Images: Installation views of Sorel Etrog: Anatomy of Tension, MacLaren Art Centre, 2020. Photo: Tyler Durbano
LEARN
Family Activity
Due to the social distancing measures introduced to combat COVID-19, the MacLaren has created self-guided activities that families can do together at home. Through a variety of exciting games and challenges, this activity sheet is designed to help children and their caregivers have fun while learning about the content and ideas present in the exhibition. Families may also refer to the didactic text as a starting point to interpreting the exhibition.
Please download the PDF below to get started!
