Artsy.net Online Exclusive Exhibition: Tom Torluemke, “Tug of War”
August 17, 2018 – September 6, 2018
Linda Warren Projects is proud to announce our first online exhibition featuring the work of Tom Torluemke. This solo exhibition titled “Tug of War” marks LWP’s first step into a digital exhibition format presented through Artsy.net (the online resource for art collecting and education featuring the world’s leading galleries, museum collections, foundations, artist estates, art fairs, auctions, all in one place) from August 17th through September 6th, 2018.
Tom Torluemke, “How Angry Can We Possibly Get?”, acrylic on paper, 70.5″ x 50.25″, 2015
Torluemke has proven to be a master of any medium to which he commits himself and with these works he has displayed an innate ability to transform the canvas into a compelling narrative full of fantastical imagery. He is unafraid of using his creative skill to elicit powerful emotional responses from his viewers. The vivid, surrealist depictions he creates are not for the faint of heart. Tom remarks, “In these works, I deal with the absurdity of human behavior and the darkness within. One moment it’s a kiss, the next it’s off with someone’s head.” He describes his work as “hard-hitting, socio-political, humanist works of art, too explosive to keep inside” and feels the need to apologize before you peak inside of his head.
We have decided to feature a variety of paintings that dabble in politics, violence, love, beauty, and ugliness stretching from 1999-2018 that have never been shown within LWP’s physical space. Torluemke has always had a political vein running through his ouvre and given the current political climate we felt these paintings were particularly relevant in recreating the emotions many of us feel when reading or watching the news. For Torluemke, the creation of these pieces has become a cathartic release. This is his fearless and visceral response to the absurdities and horrors experienced around us. Torluemke expounds and responds on universals that relate to us all, therefore inviting the viewers into his imaginative, graphic, and haunting perspective on the world. Torluemke titled the exhibition “Tug of War” because it “explores the stress and tension of life and the idea of opposites pulling against each other, people continually trying to win and get what we want.” Torluemke states, “from the minute we wake up each day, we are pushing against gravity to stay vertical. It’s a main component of life and living.”
Tom Torluemke (born, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Indiana based, contemporary American artist. His practice spans 30 years and includes works in painting, drawing, sculpture and installations in a variety of mediums. He is known for his powerful, no holds barred approach to subject matter relating to socio-political, ethical and humanistic themes.
Tom Torluemke, “Power Play”, acrylic on MDF, 37.5″ x 50″, 2015
Solo and group exhibition highlights include: “Fearsome Fable – Tolerable Truth” at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; “After Glow” at The Chicago Cultural Center; “The Inland See: Contemporary Art Around Lake Michigan”, curated by James Yood; “Critic’s Choice” at Jan Cicero Gallery in Chicago; “Present” at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago; “In the Company of Strangers” at the Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, Indiana; “Bounce” at the South Bend Regional Museum of Art in South Bend, Indiana; “Peace in the Arts” Baíhai International Peace Conference in San Francisco; “The Alabama Watercolor Society Exhibition” at the Birmingham Museum of Art; and the “In Indiana” series at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
In 2013, he was a featured speaker at TEDx PurdueU at Purdue University. In 2008, he was a winner of the Great Ideas Competition of the Arts Council of Indianapolis with his project “Light The Way” completed in December 2008 and named a recipient of the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship (Central Indiana Community Foundation) for the period of April 2007 – April 2008.
With over 20 public art commissions throughout the Midwest, they serve as a testament to the relevance and scope of his ideas, and his ability to present them in a meaningful context within their communities.
Image; Top Center: Tom Torluemke, Be Careful, Don’t Get Struck By Myopia, 76.75″ x 128″, acrylic on canvas, 2018.