Originally produced as a large-scale public art mural by the City of Vancouver, Althea Thauberger's Ecce Homo references Jacques-Louis David's 1793 painting Death of Marat, which depicts the assassination of a writer deeply involved in the politics of the French Revolution, as well as the Vancouver-based television drama Da Vinci's Inquest. The work's engagement of art/politics, real life/representation is indicative of Thauberger's artistic approach. The photograph features actor Nicholas Campbell positioned on an autopsy table. Campbell played the title role of real-life coroner and mayor Larry Campbell in Da Vinci’s Inquest and Da Vinci City Hall. Ecce Homo—which translates as “behold the man”—draws on a history of references from the condemnation of Christ to other contexts, including the title of Nietzsche's autobiography. Thauberger's project is an allegory of the relationship between art, life and politics that encompasses multiple associations.
Althea Thauberger, Ecce Homo, 2011. Metallic digital chromogenic print, ed. 2/5 + II AP. SFU Art Collection. Gift of the artist, 2015.
Title
Ecce Homo
Artist
Althea Thauberger
Year
2011
Medium
Metallic digital chromogenic print
Edition Info
Edition 2/5 + II AP
Collection
SFU Art Collection
Donor
Gift of the artist
Year Acquired
2015
Artists
Althea Thauberger is an artist, filmmaker and educator known for place-based experimental documentary projects that emerge from collaborative research and production processes. Her work—spanning photography, film, video, and performance—explores relationships between community stories and geopolitical histories. She was born in Saskatoon and is of settler Scandinavian and Black Sea German descent.
Thauberger’s recent exhibitions include the Kaunas Biennial (2021); Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2020); The Toronto Biennial of Art (2019), The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (2019); The National Gallery of Canada (2019); La musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2017), and the inaugural Karachi Biennale 2017. She lives and works in Vancouver, and is Associate Professor in Visual Art at the University of British Columbia.