July 20, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is excited to announce its newest exhibition, Thomas Putzier’s “Grief & Bureaucracy,” which will be on view from July 20 – Oct. 27, 2024 in the U.S. Bank Gallery. A part of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP), the free exhibition features a collection of sculptures and paintings by Putzier that address the social longing for change despite insurmountable bureaucratic obstacles.  

“Thomas Putzier’s ‘Grief & Bureaucracy’ feels particularly poignant as we face an increasingly turbulent world,” said Nicole E. Soukup, Coordinator for the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program and Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at Mia. “Putzier’s use of bold colors, abstract figures, and architectural forms invoke the aesthetics of power and propaganda. Putzier calls out the proverbial elephant in the room—the bureaucratic structures that shape our daily lives. In doing so, we can envision new possibilities. The exhibition will spark conversations about power, freedom, and control that will resonate with visitors.”

Based in Minnesota, Putzier works across various media as an artist and designer. His practice examines the complex relationships between social, political, and economic structures that shape society. His work has been exhibited at the CICA Museum in Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea; Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, Minnesota; the I-Park Foundation in East Haddam, Connecticut; the Neon Museum in Las Vegas; and the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas. His work is in the permanent collection of the Neon Museum.

“I want visitors to see their struggles, the architecture of their daily lives, reflected in new, unexpected ways,” said Putzier. 

For more information on “Grief & Bureaucracy” as well as other upcoming exhibitions, visit new.ArtsMia.org.

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About Thomas Putzier

Thomas Putzier is a queer Minnesota-based conceptual artist and designer. His practice imagines new worlds to examine relationships between architecture, power, freedom, and control. His works create a universe and mythology that confronts disciplinary and ideological boundaries through architectural design, drawing, painting, performance, sound, and video. His works have been exhibited in galleries, museums, and sculpture parks, including: Art Shanty Projects (2020, 2022), Public Art Festival, Minneapolis, MN, CICA Museum (2022), group exhibition, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, The English Hotel (2023), solo exhibition, Las Vegas, NV, Franconia Sculpture Park (2016-2022), sculpture exhibition, Shafer, MN, Gallery 120 (2023) solo exhibition, Saint Paul, MN, Hutchinson Center for the Arts (2021), solo exhibition, Hutchinson, MN, I-Park Foundation INC. (2021-), Site-Responsive Biennale, East Haddam, CT, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (2023), community engagement, Las Vegas, NV, Neon Museum (2023), solo exhibition, Las Vegas, NV, and White Bear Center for the Arts (2020, 2022), group exhibition, White Bear Lake, MN, among others. Residencies include Danebod Folk School (2014, 2018), Tyler, MN, I-Park Foundation INC. (2021), East Haddam, CT, Neon Museum (2022, 2023), Las Vegas, NV, and Sagehen Creek Field Station (2018, 2019), Truckee, CA, among others. Putzier has received funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (2022) & the Minnesota State Arts Board (2023, 2024). Putzier received a MFA from University of Nevada Reno at Lake Tahoe, Incline Village, NV, and a BFA from University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL. Permanent collections include Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV. 

About the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP)

The Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) is an artist-led program at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Founded in 1975 as a yearlong partnership between the museum and regional artists, it has become a unique, ongoing relationship lasting fifty years. Today, the MAEP presents exhibitions in the 2,500-square-foot U.S. Bank Gallery. Support for MAEP provided by RBC Wealth Management.

About the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Home to more than 100,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) inspires wonder, spurs creativity, and nourishes the imagination. With extraordinary exhibitions and one of the finest art collections in the country—from all corners of the globe, and from ancient to contemporary—Mia links the past to the present, enables global conversations, and offers an exceptional setting for inspiration. 

General admission to Mia is always free. Some special exhibitions have a nominal admission fee. For more information, call + 1 612 870 3000 or visit new.artsmia.org