Boats on Land by Chad Rutter

Artist Statement: Chad Rutter uses extensive road trips as source material for work that explores ideas of land, site, history and American landscape tourism. The resulting work has taken a number of forms, ranging from sculpture to drawing to photo-based books. In the sculptural work, Rutter collects artifacts over the course of his travels and builds for them interpretive display structures; taking his cues from pathways, kiosks and other structures in state and national parks as well as roadside attractions such as amateur museums and tourist traps. In the work, Rutter responds to specific sites and his personal interactions with the land as well as the homogenizing experience of 21st century interstate travel and the tourist industry culture, with its nostalgic simulacra. Bio: Chad Rutter lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota and teaches at St. Cloud State University. Chad was raised on a farm near Osceola, Nebraska, and worked as a graphic designer in Omaha for six years before moving to the Great White North. He received an interdisciplinary BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2006 and an MFA in sculpture from the University of Minnesota in 2010. Chad is the recipient of a 2011 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, which he is using to publish artist books under the moniker Mystery Spot. Chad Rutter | Boats on Land | mnartists.org June 18 - July 16, 2011 Opening reception Sat, June 18, 2011, 6-9 pm