Minneapolis, October 23, 2018—The Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) presents “Tamsie Ringler: Still Life,” a new exhibition by artist Tamsie Ringler that explores the duality of the still life, the art genre that celebrates material pleasures even as it warns about the brevity of life. The exhibition is on view in the museum’s U.S. Bank Gallery November 15, 2018, through February 24, 2019.
For her site-specific installation at Mia, Ringler transforms the gallery space into a sculptural still life. Everyday objects—including a car, a canoe, a grain silo constructed of fiberglass, and an aluminum banquet table—are placed alongside natural forms she has rematerialized, such as the Mississippi River watershed cast in iron from Minnesota’s Iron Range and land castings from the St. Croix River Valley. Within the museum context, Ringler’s exhibition speaks to the human need to preserve objects, protect moments of fragility, and illustrate our deepest potential for compassion.
About the artist
Ringler’s artistic practice focuses on landscape sculpture and public art installations that engage environmental awareness. A resident of St. Paul, Ringler studied at the University of Wisconsin and received her MFA in Sculpture from the University of Texas, Austin. She teaches foundry and sculpture at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. Recent projects include the “River Lee Project,” a durational iron pour of the River Lee watershed held at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork, Ireland, and exhibitions at Yeah Maybe, Minneapolis, the Pedvale Open-Air Art Museum, Latvia, and the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis. Ringler is a recipient of the 2017 McKnight Fellowship and is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors.
Related programing
Ringler will give an MAEP Artist Talk on Thursday, January 17, 2019, at 7 p.m. She will discuss how her exhibition at Mia connects to the environment, ephemerality, and still lifes.
Generous support for MAEP provided by the McKnight Foundation. Additional support provided by RBC Wealth Management and Helen and Dan Lindsay.
The artist received additional funding for this project from the Dean’s Freshman Research and Creative Scholars Program, University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts, a University of Minnesota Imagine Fund Annual Faculty Award, and Belwin Conservancy. The taconite pellets for this exhibition were donated by US Steel’s Minntac Mine.
This exhibition is part of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program.