Rebecca Kautz
to
UW Art Lofts 111 N. Frances St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Green Shag (Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition)
April 21-April 26, Art Lofts Gallery on the UW-Madison Campus, 111 North Frances St.
PERFORMANCE: Wednesday, April 25, at 7pm (reception from 6-8pm)
Artist Statement: Rebecca Kautz’s process of art making cycles through a vocabulary of forms. The artist incorporates a regular, reflective writing and drawing practice in her process of working though creative impulses and social problems. Often, and in the case of the exhibition of works on paper in Green Shag, the latent stages of an exploration of themes result in a performative physical action. The artist uses kinesthetic movement with roots in contemporary dance and performance art to advance conceptual and social concerns in an embodied practice. Green Shag explores non-linear narratives of power, sexuality and identity development in adolescence. The domestic scene is perceived as a simulation of broader social hierarchies. The play led learning, language, and pedagogy of early childhood and adolescence is set against notions of empowered identity and sexuality. Childhood is the backdrop in which the artist asks viewers to consider how gender and personhood can be nurtured or violated in contemporary life. In cases of sexual misconduct and abuse, the resulting effects of shame are noted. The images are sourced through an auto-ethnographic lens of Midwest, working class life. Ambiguously flip-flopping through time periods, images of the persona at play, depict a subject that could be interpreted as either the artist or her children. These images become a mashup of iconography across time, and a breaching of both public and private space. This includes present day events such as the Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics abuse and private psychological explorations of the artist’s life. Gold medal flour, which has long been a symbol for domestic labor in the artist’s work, is now an expanded sign to signify systemic sexual abuse.
Bio: Rebecca Kautz (b.1978) is an artist working in performance, installation, video and painting and drawing. Kautz has worked across these disciplines and has a foundational practice which incorporates reflective, expository writing and drawing. These beginning processes are often translated into physical performance works as an attempt to illustrate the embodied practice of working through problems and social issues of our time. Working on the themes of psychology, sexuality, power, and feminism the work is not always linear and incorporate personal auto-ethnographic symbols as well as contemporary culture. After completing her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2001) in Performance, she spent four years working with women at a day-shelter as an Arts & Activities Director and subsequently has numerous years of experience in non-profit and education sectors. Kautz holds a Master’s of Arts in both Educational Leadership and Art and will receive her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting & Drawing from The University of Wisconsin-Madison in May 2018. Kautz has an extensive performance and exhibition history including Open Engagement, Chicago (2017),The Museum of Contemporary Art-Chicago (2002), Lakeside Legacy Foundation in Crystal Lake, IL (2015), OFF The WALL at Arts + Literature Lab, Madison, WI (2017 & 2016). Kautz was awarded a Social Art Award from the Berlin based Center for Art & Innovation (2017), 1st Honorable Mention for the Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize (2018) and is recipient of the Temkin Award at University of Wisconsin-Madison (2018). Kautz currently lives with her family in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.