Art Windsor-Essex respectfully acknowledges that we are located on Anishinaabe Territory – the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, comprised of the Ojibway, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. Today the Anishinaabe of the Three Fires Confederacy are represented by Bkejwanong. We want to state our respect for the ancestral and ongoing authority of Walpole Island First Nation over its Territory.
- Home
- Exhibitions + Displays
- David Thauberger: Road Trips & Other Diversions
David Thauberger: Road Trips & Other Diversions
June 28, 2014 - September 21, 2014
AWE Gallery
David Thauberger, Steel Pavilion, 1986, acrylic and glitter on canvas, 179.0 cm x 114.0 cm, Purchase, 1987
Join us to celebrate the 40-year career retrospective exhibition of a nationally-recognized Prairie artist, David Thauberger this summer for the launch of its Canadian tour.
David Thauberger (b. 1948) is one of Canada’s most important contemporary painters. His images of vernacular architecture and Saskatchewan’s cultural icons have been gaining steady recognition. This exhibition is the first major survey of his art practice since his major mid-career exhibition in 1988. Co-organized by the Mendel Art Gallery and the McKenzie Art Gallery, the show explores how the idea of “place” has shaped Thauberger’s work. As we at the AGW continue to think about how the rapid chances in the City of Windsor’s downtown core and how we are strategically positioned in an international metropolis, Thauberger’s work provide an important opportunity for reflection.
Thauberger’s art practice has been informed by popular culture by studying postcard imagery, folk art, and utopian urban planning concepts such as those for the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 and the New York World Fair in 1939, and objects from his own folk art collection will be included in this exhibit. He brings these realms together to expose how no one subject or genre can be perceived without reference to the other, and to show how interconnected the world is that we inhabit. Further, this exhibition will show how, as artist, he moves between the position of outsider and insider to offer unique views of the Saskatchewan scene. The AGW will be the first touring venue for its national journey after opening in Saskatoon. Hosting exhibitions of this calibre helps the AGW maintain strong public grant funding but these grants are never enough to support project expenses in whole. Importantly, they also enable our city to maintain conversations with others across Canada and help us understand the role of place in daily life.
The artist holds three degrees: from the University of Saskatchewan (BFA, 1971) California State University, Sacramento, (MA, 1972), and the University of Montana, Missoula (MFA, 1973). He holds one of the most impressive commercial exhibition records of any artist in Canada, having been represented by more than ten prominent galleries since 1990 and his works are found in more than 80 public and corporate collections across the nation. In the public gallery realm his works have continued to garner critical acclaim and, as a result he has received such important accolades as him becoming a member of the Order of Canada in 2008 and his receiving the Queen’s Diamond Medal in 2012. He has also given much personal time to serving as a Trustee for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Canada Council for the Arts and the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
Road Trips & Other Diversions is curated by Sandra Fraser of the Mendel Art Gallery and Timothy Long of the MacKenzie Art Gallery. An extensive website for the exhibition can be found at www.thauberger-roadtrips.ca.
Organized and circulated by the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon and the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina. This project is funded in part by the Museums Assistance Program at Canadian Heritage.
Exposition organisée et circulée par la Mendel Art Gallery de Saskatoon et la MacKenzie Art Gallery de Regina. Ce projet est financé en partie dans le cadre du Programme d’aide aux musées de Patrimoine canadien.
Presented in Windsor with the support of The Chandisherry Foundation and The Morris and Beverly Baker Foundation.
See the EXHIBITION REVIEW in The Urbanite
Catalogue Available!
Saskatchewan’s David Thauberger is an award winning artist best known for his iconic paintings of vernacular architecture. David Thauberger: Road Trips & Other Diversions provides the first comprehensive overview of this remarkable artist. Approximately 100 full-colour reproductions document paintings, prints and ceramic works produced from 1971 to 2009, drawn from more than 30 public and private collections across Canada. The book contains six essays (in English and French): Sandra Fraser discusses the exhibition themes within the context of the artist’s career; Timothy Long explores how the artist’s private collecting informs his art practice; Peter White examines the material and psychological richness of the Prairies as understood through Thauberger’s complex relationship to it; Andrew Kear addresses the artist’s work within the larger issues of regionalism in Canada; Patricia Bovey asserts the importance of Thauberger’s printmaking practice; Ted Fraser reminisces about Thauberger’s residency in Charlottetown, PEI. The book is designed by Hartman Design Studio Inc. and includes a 28-minute documentary, The Vernacular Man, on DVD produced by Novina Motion Pictures Inc. Co-published by the Mendel Art Gallery and MacKenzie Art Gallery.
208 pp 10.25 x 9.25 in. hardcover ISBN 978-1-896359-84-7
$55.00 CDN Available September 2014 at AGW Visitor Services
In this exhibit
