Almost forty years of works on paper by the contemporary American artist, known for his powerful, no holds barred approach to subject matter relating to socio-political, ethical, and humanistic themes. Tom Torluemke’s (b. Chicago, 1959) name is familiar to art lovers in Chicagoland thanks mainly to his detailed acrylic paintings, in which he observes and memorializes society’s ills with the doting attention of a diehard humanist. Torluemke has been considerably more prolific in painting works on paper, a primarily unexplored part of his oeuvre; Tom Torluemke: Live! On Paper, 1987 – 2024, aspires to reframe the conversation around his art, representing almost forty years of studio activity that includes works about nature, fantasy, autobiography, abstraction, social strife, identity, and a full spectrum of emotion from shame to ecstasy, showcasing Torluemke’s unique artistry through his freewheeling imagination and boundless technical chops in capturing our broad collective experience of being fully aware, conscious citizens living in this place at this peculiar moment in history.
