Tm Gratkowski

Tm Gratkowski
Los Angeles, California, USA

STATEMENT

Tm Gratkowski’s art practice is about manipulating information–the material he uses is paper. His art presents a dense juxtaposition of images and words with a multifaceted amalgam of social issues to contemplate.

Tm aligns the act of looking with that of reading by using paper, images, and text to create a critical visual narrative about the meaning of information as it reflect the culture we live in today. He uses mass-media as a lexicon of information to re-contextualize popular media as a social criticism about how information is presented to us. The work can be both conceptual and abstract but its subject matter is always socio-political.

The paper material appropriated to create his art recontextualizes the history of information to convey a hidden truth or an alternative way of considering how information is manipulated and perceived. His works are created by layering and juxtaposing hundreds of layers of pieces of paper sometimes revealing and sometimes covering truths, facts, or critical opinions not always immediately apparent in their original context.

The subject matter Tm explores can start with a curiosity about history, literature, psychology, science, politics, but in the end it’s about our collective relationship to the interconnectedness and strangeness of our personal experiences to these human affairs.

BIO

Although Tm’s education and early works are rooted in painting, drawing, and architecture his professional practice as an artist is based on using paper as his primary material to create collages, installations, and sculpture. Tm Gratkowski’s artwork is a form of visual data gathering. He aligns the act of looking with that of reading by using paper, images, and text to create a critical visual narrative about the culture of information we live in today. His artwork is densely layered to construct a surface rich in patterns, images, text. Going beyond historical definitions, concepts, and contemporary art practices Tm pushes the boundaries beyond traditional collage as he beguiles everyday information by playing with image-as-text and text-as-image.

Tm Gratkowski’s work has been featured in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions Nationally and Internationally and his work can be found exhibited in most major art fairs throughout the US and Europe. Since moving his studio practice to LA. full-time in 2008 Tm has been exhibiting continuously and has produced several major gallery shows and museum exhibitions since. He is currently working on two upcoming solo museum exhibitions which will premiere over the next couple years (2019-2021). His work has been featured in several printed catalogues, articles, interviews, and online publications including Artillery Magazine, Pulse Magazine, Art Ltd, and Art Voices Magazine, among others. His work is in the collection of many important private and corporate collections in the US including Smashbox Studios in Culver City and Loyola Marymount University School of Law in Los Angeles. As a point to evolve and push his work and ideas further Tm is currently preparing work on “One Mile”, the first continuous, uninterrupted, mile-long collage.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
tmgratkowski.blogspot.com

IMAGES