Tom Torluemke at UIMA

Contemporary observational landscape paintings are turning up in the strangest places this year.  First there was David Hockney’s "Arrival of Spring in Normandy" at the Art Institute.  Now Tom  Torluemke’s four seasons of the upper Midwest are showing at UIMA.  Is this still popular 19th century genre expanding beyond the retro middle brow art galleries to which it has been confined?

Nothing is typical of Torluemke.  He has painted across several figurative and abstract genres.  Perhaps he’s best known for a satirical surrealism  reminiscent of the Chicago Monster Roster.   A single example of such work, "Drag Race" is included in this show.  Combining the whimsey of Seymour Rosofsky and the morbidity of Fred Berger, it’s as fun and outrageous as it is incomprehensible.

Yet there is nothing strange and puzzling in the landscapes in this show.  They’re as dry, flat, and obvious as magazine illustrations.  But still, they are wonderfully alive - and they are more about composition than depiction. These are not places for quiet contemplation - like the bucolic retreats so often depicted in the 19th Century.  These pieces have no glow or depth or atmosphere or mood.  What they have is the relentless, disruptive energy of life.  The foliage drawn by Charles Burchfield comes to mind.

Accompanying these landscapes are nearly two dozen portraits of local people whom the artist happens to know.  Each subject was asked to submit a selfie and photo of  chosen background. Offering neither soulful presence (Rembrandt) nor psychological penetration (Kokoshka) nor elegance (Sargent) these are what they started out as: selfies - even if they have been ever so skillfully enhanced. - and even framed in their own uniquely carved,and painted hand-held vanity mirror.  Every person is different yet no one is special.  It’s quite a democratic collection - reminding me of the ancient encaustic portraits from Faiyum - except that there is no whiff of eternity. Every face is as immediate, timely, factual, and temporary as the front page of a newspaper - but comfy instead of alarming.

A gentle and loving view of our world, both planetary and human - in sharp contrast to identity politics, art about art, or art about the artist.  A fine antidote for the harsh polarization of our times.  I wish Torluemke was more ambitious about the deeper meanings of things, but quite possibly the future will recognize him as one of the most important Chicago artists of the early 21st century.

Drag Race, 110 x 76