TODD NORSTEN
Born 1967, Sunburg, Minnesota; lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota Todd Norsten makes self-consciously homespun paintings and works on paper that reveal a fundamental curiosity in his approach to materials and techniques. His images are often steeped in the climate and vernacular of the Upper Midwest— specifically, his native Minnesota— articulating an attitude of nostalgia and diligence that is often characterized as reflecting "traditional," transcendental American values. Norsten deciphers contemporary contexts in which such ideals are routinely but often duplicitously invoked, whether in debates about the separation of church and state, as seductive material for commercial culture, or as the bedrock of partisan politics in the United States. MA |
Biennial Voices: |