Showing 197 results

Sorel Etrog (Jassy, Romania 1933 - Toronto, Canada 2014) was an artist, writer and philosopher. He began his art studies at the Institute of Painting and Sculpture in Tel Aviv; his first solo show in Tel Aviv (1958) led to a scholarship at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. In New York, he caught the attention of Samuel Zacks, which led to his first show at Gallery Moos in Toronto. Etrog subsequently immigrated to Toronto in 1963, and made his home here for the remainder of his life (apart from sojourns in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s, working with the Michelucci foundry). Etrog’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada and internationally, and his artwork is in the collection of major
museums and private collections worldwide, in addition to the public art works noted above. A retrospective of his work was held at the AGO from April 27-September 29, 2013. Sorel Etrog died on February 26, 2014.

Originator: Nasgaard/Fleming/Celante.

Paterson Ewen (1925-2002) was a Canadian painter best known for his abstract landscapes and monumental paintings dealing with themes of nature and cosmology. Born in Montreal, Ewen was associated with the mid-century abstraction movement in Quebec. He moved to London, Ontario in 1968, where he lived and worked until his death in 2002.

Ewen briefly attended McGill University, studying geology, but transferred to the School of Art and Design at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1948. It was here that Ewen developed an interest in painting landscapes, inspired by his teachers Arthur Lismer and Goodridge Roberts. While attending the School of Art and Design, Ewen met his first wife, Francoise Sullivan, with whom he had four sons: Vincent, Geoffrey, Jean-Christophe, and Francis. It was through Sullivan that Ewen was exposed to the work of the Surrealist poets and Automatiste abstract painters, such as Jean-Paul Riopelle and Paul-Emile Borduas. Ewen married Sullivan in December 1949, and a few months later left art school, dismissed by Lismer in response to an exhibition of Ewen’s paintings at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Ewen held various part-time jobs to support his family during this period, including caretaker and training coordinator at a box factory and supermarket chain. Ewen and Sullivan divorced in 1968, and he moved to London, Ontario. It was in London that Ewen came into contact with local artists such as Greg Curnoe, Jack Chambers, and David Rabinowitch. Their influence impacted Ewen’s art, as he moved from representational landscapes to a more abstract style. It was around this time when Ewen developed techniques that would be a hallmark of his later works, such as the use of plywood gouged with an electric router as a painting surface. He also began using more unconventional materials in his art, including wire and other metals. In 1972, Ewen began teaching painting at University of Western Ontario, where he met his second wife, Mary Handford. The two married in 1995.

In 1982, Ewen was chosen to represent Canada at the Venice Biennale, and he received other recognition in the form of several awards, including the Chalmers Award for Visual Arts and the Toronto Arts Award. In 1996, the Art Gallery of Ontario mounted a retrospective exhibition of Ewen’s works that travelled to the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. Ewen’s work is in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and other museums.

Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) was founded in September, 1966 as a not-for-profit organization to promote cooperation among artists, engineers and industry on projects involving both art and technology. Members included Billy Klüver, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman, Fred Waldhauer, among many others. In 1977 the documents of E.A.T. were assembled, reproduced, and distributed to several libraries and museums throughout the world.

Extension Services’ primary responsibility was to coordinate and circulate exhibitions, lectures, and instructional programs throughout Ontario, as a part of the AGO’s mandate to support and advance visual arts across the province.
Extension Services began in 1968, when the Art Institute of Ontario disbanded and its programs were taken over by the Education and Extension Services Branch, with Alan Toff as Extension Services Officer. In 1969, Claire Haggan (later Watson) assumed the role of Extension Officer and later Coordinator of Extension Services. Gene Butt replaced Claire Watson as Coordinator of Extension Services in 1974, with Nancy Hushion taking over the role in 1975.
In 1976, Extension Services became its own division. Nancy Hushion continued as head of Extension Services until 1979 when Penny-Lynn Grossman assumed the role of division head.
In 1981 Extension Services became a department within the Curatorial Branch, with Glenda Milrod now as department head and Marcie Lawrence joining as Program Coordinator.
In 1992/1993, Extension Services became a department in the newly formed Education, Outreach, and Public Programming Division. Glenda Milrod remained as head of the department and Marcie Lawrence continued as Program Coordinator.
Extension Services disbanded in 1995/1996 when the Education, Outreach, and Public Programming Division became part of the Curatorial Division.

Factory 77, initially known as Galerie Scollard, was a Toronto artist-run gallery focused on art education which operated between 1976 and 1982. Galerie Scollard was established in Toronto in 1976 as a nonprofit charitable organization by Dushka Arezina, a Yugoslavian emigrée, artist, and art historian. It was coined a “centre for education in vision” and was located on Scollard Street in Toronto. The gallery was operated by a Board of Directors of which Harvey Cowan was the chairperson and Kenneth Lund the president. Dushka Arezina sat on the Board of Directors as treasurer and was also the gallery’s executive director. Galerie Scollard ceased operations under that name in 1978 and was re-established
as Factory 77 in November 1978 upon moving into a former carpet factory at 77 Mowat Ave. in Toronto’s Parkdale area. Factory 77’s operations were overseen by Arezina and a Board of Directors chaired by Lund, a Toronto lawyer. It aimed to present a broad view of contemporary visual arts by exhibiting established artists together with emerging ones. In the years between 1978 and 1982, the gallery mounted more than 13 exhibitions per year, featuring prominent Canadian artists such as Mary and Christopher Pratt, Lynn Donoghue, and Ken Danby. The gallery also placed significant emphasis on exhibitions by Eastern European artists such as Jiri Ladocha. The gallery aimed to foster student participation through exhibits of student and youth work, and placed significant focus on art education and appreciation outreach programs in elementary and secondary schools in the Toronto area. Due to financial and administrative difficulties, Factory 77 ceased operations permanently in February 1982.

John Faichney is a Canadian dancer, television producer and software analyst born in Montreal in 1952. He graduated from Oberlin College where he developed an interest in choreography and dance improvisation. In May 1976 he performed at the Centre for Experimental Art & Communication (CEAC) in Toronto and was invited to join the Centre’s staff. Amongst other activities, he designed printed matter, maintained exchange programs with other artists’ groups, curated an exhibition of artists’ books and managed distribution of mailings and periodicals (including Strike, a quasi monthly newspaper.) John Faichney lives in Kitchener, Ontario, and remains involved with Contact Improvisation.

The Fairlies were a prominent Canadian family who lived and worked throughout Ontario during the first half of the twentieth century.

Reverend John Fairlie (1844-1919) and his wife Hannah Waldrup Fraser (ca. 1847-1929) came from Scotland to Quebec in 1873, then to Kingston in 1900. They had nine children—four girls and five boys. One of their sons, Matthew Fraser Fairlie (ca. 1883-1944), attended Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. He graduated in 1902 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mining Engineering and moved to Cobalt, Ontario with his wife, Anne Louise Fitzpatrick (ca. 1881-1961) to work for Kerr-Addison Gold Mines Ltd. during the Silver Rush of 1903. They moved to Toronto in the late 1920s, purchased a house in Forest Hill, and adopted two children: Alan Fraser Fairlie (1927-2001) and Joyce Fairlie (1929-1956). Alan attended both Crescent School and Upper Canada College (ca. 1935-1948), two prestigious all-boys private schools in Toronto. Joyce attended Bishop Strachan School for girls (ca. 1935-?).

After attending the University of Toronto for Radio Broadcasting (1949-?), Alan F. Fairlie started a film company, Monarch Productions Ltd. He was commissioned to produce films for the Canadian Rugby team in Bermuda, the development of Giant’s Tomb in Penetang, Ontario, and various programs for CTV Television Network. He also shot and produced his own films documenting archaeological caves in Yucatan, his travels to Mexico, and footage in various countries throughout Europe. Alan married Snezana Susanne Popovich in 1962. They had two children: LuAnne Fairlie (1963- ) and Matthew Peter Fairlie (1966- ). Alan retired to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia where he lived until his death in 2001.