Born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1947, David Alexander started painting seriously in high school after an art teacher encouraged him toward a different way of looking at things. He earned a BFA from Notre Dame University, B.C., in 1978 and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. He attended the Emma Lake Workshop in 1979 and the following year, he moved with his wife Judy and family to Saskatoon where he has discovered strong collegial affinities within the artistic community of Saskatchewan. His works can be found in many public collections, among them the Vancouver Art Gallery, Edmonton Art Gallery, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Mendel Art Gallery, Canada Council Art Bank and the University of Toronto, in addition to major corporate collections. He lives and works near Vernon, BC. Alexander’s reputation was built on his preoccupation with transforming conventional landscape into complex and often disorienting gestures of pure colour. Viewers in search of terra firma have to push through surface “obstacles” in order to locate the land beyond. A significant recent donation of paintings and prints to the University of Saskatchewan Art Collection complements the pieces previously acquired by the university. Taken together, the works constitutes a survey of his mature period as an artist of national stature living and working in Saskatchewan. They demonstrate Alexander’s range of media, highlighting his wry historical commentary and his expressive power apparent in tough-headed graphic works.

Artist:	David Alexander
Title:	Trail
Dimensions:	54.5 cm x 41 cm
Media:	54.5 cm x 41 cm
Dimensions:	acrylic monoprint on paper
Date:	1985
Credit:	University of Saskatchewan Art Collection. Gift of the artist, 2003.