One of Etrog’s most profound expressions of existential ambiguity is the “Link” motif. The link for Etrog symbolized movement as a metaphor for life itself, but being that the links are connected, they hold the promise of freedom and restraint at once. This contradiction was one that fascinated existential writers and thinkers such as Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco, Etrog’s friends and collaborators. In developing his visual metaphor further, the artist incorporated the “Hinge” as a conduit of movement as in Steptease (1976). The hinge also lends itself to the expression of the interiority of the human psyche as in Introvert (1975-76).

Born in Romania, Sorel Etrog immigrated to Canada in 1963 and quickly established himself as one of North America’s pre-eminent sculptors. His career spanned over 50 years and involved collaborations with Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, John Cage and Marshall McLuhan. Etrog represented Canada at the 1966 Venice Biennale and received many important commissions including EXPO ‘67, Sunlife Centre Toronto, and Olympic Park Seoul Korea. In 1968, he designed the Canadian Film Award more commonly known as the Genie. He was appointed Member of the Order of Canada in 1994 and was made a Chevalier of Arts and Letters by the Government of France in 1996. Etrog’s work resides in a number of permanent collections including the Tate Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, The Tel-Aviv Museum, The Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada.