Adrian Gor, born in 1979 in Iasi, Romania, and based in Ottawa, Canada, is a contemporary painter, printmaker, and drawer. He is known for his figurative pastel drawings on paper and linen, as well as his relief prints and etchings.
In his drawings and paintings, Gor deconstructs the body language of classical representations of masculinity by constructing new visual masses. This language, historically associated with conventional values of strength, rationality, and vitality, has defined masculine prototypes in iconographies central to Western visual culture. Having grown up without a paternal role model in a patriarchal context, he brings personal insight to reimagining masculine identity without an overarching narrative. Techniques of cross-contour linework and expressive mark-making, combined with artistic anatomy, medieval color symbolism, and postmodern symbolic and formal deconstruction, are used to reassemble visual cues such as hands, feet, torsos, and bearded men into masses charged with tension and narrative ambiguity.
He holds an MFA from the University of Windsor and a PhD in Art History and Philosophy from Concordia University, Canada. He teaches Art History and Foundation Drawing and works as the Diploma Coordinator in the Fine Arts Diploma Program at the Ottawa School of Art. He has investigated the connections between contemporary art, modern art, and the medieval theology of the icon, with notable publications in SAGE Journals, Journal of Religion and Culture, and New Europe College Ştefan Odobleja Program Yearbook 2017. Previous exhibitions include ARTSPLACE Gallery in Nova Scotia (2021), Tonitza Gallery in Romania (2023), and J.W. Stellick Gallery – OSA Downtown Campus (2025). An upcoming exhibition is scheduled at The Gallery at Penn College, Williamsport, USA, in November 2025.