Thomas Putze Performances 2000-2020
Arnoldsche

The first publication of Thomas Putze’s performances in one volume: full-on physical exertion guaranteed. Presented in English and German.

Thomas Putze, born 1968 in Augsburg, is at first glance a true ‘art maniac’. His roughly hewn and impertinent sculptures grin at us; his rapturous drawings barely appear to have time to establish themselves on the paper.

This new publication is the first overview of Thomas Putze’s performances from the past twenty years. In it we realise that he uses his body just as relentlessly as all the other materials he uses in his work: he labours through barbed wire, submerges himself in mud, and scales church facades. Frequently without clothing or scantily wrapped in plastic sheeting, he opens himself up to the space. For Thomas Putze, performance is the process of a snapshot in time; it is thinking, drawing and sculpting with and through the body.

Nevertheless we do find gentle notes in Thomas Putze’s work — not necessarily when he gets his e-guitar out but rather when it becomes clear to us onlookers, amid the spectacle, what it is about. How someone here subjects themself to pain, surrenders themself, bears the travails of life or of being different, in order to remind us once more what existence means in our society.

Thomas Putze typifies the risk of being human, with all its failings and with plenty of humour. He does not just hold us to account but rather invites us to do this ourselves: to partake in art and to reflect on the performance we call life.