Travel and Transport, 1986

Private Collection, Calgary

Known for his paintings of the vernacular architecture and cultural attractions of Saskatchewan, David Thauberger mines the depths of Canadiana, re-imagining existing popular imagery to create hyper-real cityscapes that transcend regionalism yet evoke the unique experiences of life in Western Canada. Discussing the level of realism in Thauberger's “dead-pan paintings of local architecture”, Joan Murray notes that the artist appropriates his images “from sources like a postcard, colour television, or Field & Stream magazine. Thauberger's attachment to place, and his adversarial relationship with high-art modernist culture as dictated by New York, recalls the art of [Greg] Curnoe, but his formal invention – basing his art on techniques characteristic of popular culture such as stencilling – and the approach of his images to folk art is more satirical.” Like his landscapes, paintings like “Travel and Transport” may be based on existing images from Canadian visual culture; however, in their arresting configurations and unorthodox execution, his subjects contain implied references to magic, fantasy, and play.