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Tom Uttech - New Paintings - Exhibitions - Alexandre Gallery

The gallery is pleased to present the exhibition Tom Uttech: New Paintings, which remains on view through November 14, 2009

Included in this show, Uttech’s third with the gallery, are seventeen paintings completed over the past three years.  These paintings range in size between the small-scaled (15 x 18 inches) to the monumental (103 x 112 inches).  In each, the artist depicts the remote verdant North Woods of Quetico Provincial Park and his native Wisconsin in a style of detailed painterly realism that is both observed and highly imagined—Uttech makes extended forays alone into the woods, but creates his work in the studio from memory.  Uttech’s world is entirely untouched by human hands.  It is richly populated with a multitude of animals and birds that inhabit a heightened, rich and multi-layered landscape often illuminated by dramatic evening or early morning sky.  In Uttech’s work the viewer is transported to a visual paradise and a pre-Cambrian world of millions of years ago, and to a world that is now fragile and fleeting. 

Lucy Lippard, who wrote for Uttech’s 2004 Milwaukee Art Museum retrospective, says of these new paintings:

Uttech’s commitment to the scrubby natural grandeur and spiritual power of this place is transmitted with extraordinary detail that transcends ordinary experience.  The sights come not just one by one, but in multitudes.  The deer, bears, wolves, and above all the birds, animate his canvases until they reach a visual intensity.  While the birds are usually in flight and we can almost hear their voices, the mammals are emblematic, still and silent.

Lippard continues:

Uttech’s paintings evoke the infinite diversity of an amazing place like this planet. For nature lovers, naturalists, scientists, and ecological activists – in fact for all of us – they stand for what we have to loose and what we have to fight for.

Tom Uttech was born in 1942 near Wausau, Wisconsin.  After completing studies at the Layton School of Art and University of Cincinnati, he was a professor of art at the University of Wisconsin until his resignation in 1998.  He has had over 35 one-person exhibitions of his work since it was first exhibited in New York at the 1975 Whitney Biennial.

Installations

Installations Thumbnails
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition space, with a painting hanging on a white wall above a table and chair
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with four paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition space, with two small painting hanging on a white wall
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition space, with two paintings hanging on a white wall
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition space, with a painting hanging on a white wall above a table and chair
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with four paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition space, with two small painting hanging on a white wall
Photograph showing a view of an exhibition space, with two paintings hanging on a white wall
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls
Photograph showing a corner view of an exhibition space, with three paintings hanging on white walls

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails
Painting of a surreal landscape of a menagerie of birds flying through a forest at sunset, with wetlands in the background

Nind Anikomindewimin, 2016, oil on linen, 48 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal landscape with a river winding through boulders and trees and a bright sunset reflecting on the water in the background

Nin Bakewis, 2017, oil on linen, 31 x 39 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of two waterfalls flowing over a rocky landscape, with a bear toward the center left standing on its hind legs facing the viewer and a second bear climbing a fallen tree in the background

Nin Giweki, 2017, oil on linen, 34 3/4 x 49 1/8 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal landscape with a menagerie of forest animals and birds migrating to the west through trees and logs, with a radiant sunrise over wetlands in the background

Mamakadendagwad, 2016, oil on canvas, 91 1/2 x 103 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a forest landscape and its reflection in a body of water below, with a flock of birds flying to the left side of the canvas

Nanagatawendamowin, 2017, oil on linen, 73 x 67 inches, including artist’s hand painted frame

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Painting of a forest landscape full of bears and other woodland creatures, reflected in a body of water below

Dibewagendamowin, 2017, oil on linen, 67 x 73 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal landscape at sunrise with a menagerie of birds and forest creatures migrating to the west

Ajawakamig, 2017, oil on linen, 91 1/2 x 103 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal landscape, with a tall, bare tree in the center and a bright sunset in the background and dark birds flying through the foreground

Nin Kitchitwawia, 2017, oil on board, 17 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal forest landscape filled with fallen trees, and a white owl flying through the foreground

Nin Maiaginan, 2017, oil on board, 17 1/2 x 19, inches including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal landscape with a menagerie of forest animals and birds migrating to the west through trees and logs, and a radiant sunrise over wetlands in the background

Oshki Kotaging, 2015, oil on canvas, 67 x 73 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Surreal landscape painting of a nocturnal forest scene with a pale green moose in the center, and pink and green Northern Lights in the sky overhead

Ganawaabandiwag (Northern Lights), 2003 / 2017, oil on linen, 73 x 79 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a rocky forest landscape at dawn

Kikinawadad, 2017, oil on linen, 38 1/2 x 42 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal forest landscape populated by a menagerie of birds and forest creatures

Nin Mikwendass, 2017, oil on linen, 33 x 36 3/4 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a group of wolves and bears in a dark forest

Nin Babamenindimin, 2002-03 /2017, oil on canvas, 43 x 51 inches

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Painting of a dark forest landscape filled with wolves, bears, and moose

Nin Kikinge, 2017, oil on linen, 27 x 33 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a misty forest landscape at twilight, with a wolf seated on a rock in the center

Kikinowijiwed, 2011-2012 / 2017, oil on linen, 32 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

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Painting of a surreal landscape filled with bears and moose with a misty sunset in the background

Mamakasabandan, 2017, oil on linen, 30 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Inquire
Painting of a surreal landscape of a menagerie of birds flying through a forest at sunset, with wetlands in the background

Nind Anikomindewimin, 2016, oil on linen, 48 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal landscape with a river winding through boulders and trees and a bright sunset reflecting on the water in the background

Nin Bakewis, 2017, oil on linen, 31 x 39 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of two waterfalls flowing over a rocky landscape, with a bear toward the center left standing on its hind legs facing the viewer and a second bear climbing a fallen tree in the background

Nin Giweki, 2017, oil on linen, 34 3/4 x 49 1/8 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal landscape with a menagerie of forest animals and birds migrating to the west through trees and logs, with a radiant sunrise over wetlands in the background

Mamakadendagwad, 2016, oil on canvas, 91 1/2 x 103 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a forest landscape and its reflection in a body of water below, with a flock of birds flying to the left side of the canvas

Nanagatawendamowin, 2017, oil on linen, 73 x 67 inches, including artist’s hand painted frame

Painting of a forest landscape full of bears and other woodland creatures, reflected in a body of water below

Dibewagendamowin, 2017, oil on linen, 67 x 73 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal landscape at sunrise with a menagerie of birds and forest creatures migrating to the west

Ajawakamig, 2017, oil on linen, 91 1/2 x 103 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal landscape, with a tall, bare tree in the center and a bright sunset in the background and dark birds flying through the foreground

Nin Kitchitwawia, 2017, oil on board, 17 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal forest landscape filled with fallen trees, and a white owl flying through the foreground

Nin Maiaginan, 2017, oil on board, 17 1/2 x 19, inches including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal landscape with a menagerie of forest animals and birds migrating to the west through trees and logs, and a radiant sunrise over wetlands in the background

Oshki Kotaging, 2015, oil on canvas, 67 x 73 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Surreal landscape painting of a nocturnal forest scene with a pale green moose in the center, and pink and green Northern Lights in the sky overhead

Ganawaabandiwag (Northern Lights), 2003 / 2017, oil on linen, 73 x 79 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a rocky forest landscape at dawn

Kikinawadad, 2017, oil on linen, 38 1/2 x 42 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal forest landscape populated by a menagerie of birds and forest creatures

Nin Mikwendass, 2017, oil on linen, 33 x 36 3/4 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a group of wolves and bears in a dark forest

Nin Babamenindimin, 2002-03 /2017, oil on canvas, 43 x 51 inches

Painting of a dark forest landscape filled with wolves, bears, and moose

Nin Kikinge, 2017, oil on linen, 27 x 33 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a misty forest landscape at twilight, with a wolf seated on a rock in the center

Kikinowijiwed, 2011-2012 / 2017, oil on linen, 32 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame

Painting of a surreal landscape filled with bears and moose with a misty sunset in the background

Mamakasabandan, 2017, oil on linen, 30 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches, including artist's hand painted frame