David Sorensen at McClure Gallery Montreal
David Sorensen “The Ultimate Horizon”
Exhibition at McClure Gallery, Montreal from November 2 – 24, 2012
The McClure Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition, The Ultimate Horizon, featuring the paintings of David Sorensen. Selected by guest curator Sandra Grant Marchand, these colour field abstractions represent Sorensen’s final works in a decade long exploration of the horizon leitmotif. McClure Gallery is honoured to exhibit these paintings, executed for the most part during the year prior to Sorensen’s death in 2011.
In 2004, Sorensen wrote, “To me there is still this celebration worth the paint and it’s about an open door in the artist that used to be called the muse.” While clearly aware of and influenced by the art movements and contemporary concerns of his time, Sorensen remained steadfastly committed to the pursuit of a “classical order free of irony.” He continually strove to distil light like Turner, to reconcile abstraction with the inspiration of earth and sky, to marry minimalism and geometry with the lyrical human gesture. His quest in paint now makes its claim upon us.
McClure Gallery is honoured to publish an exhibition catalogue which includes over 40 images from the Horizon series, Grant Marchand’s perceptive analysis of the works, and finally, an appreciation by the artist’s daughter Verona Sorensen.
Born in West Vancouver, B.C. in 1937, David Sorensen studied at the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver School of Art. Moving to Montréal in 1966 and later to the Eastern Townships, Sorensen taught at the Montreal Museum School of Art and Design, Dawson College and, finally, at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke from 1981-2000. Sorensen is represented by galleries across Canada including the Wallack Galleries in Ottawa, Moore Gallery in Toronto, Michael Gibson in London and Studio 21 in Halifax. Sorensen has exhibited internationally in Mexico city, Guadalajara, Basel, Milan, Paris, Chicago, New York City, Boston, Tokyo, Manila and Hong Kong. In 1996 he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He was awarded numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. His work is represented in public collections such as the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, to mention a few.