Alte Freunde (Old friends), 2010

Thomas Schutte is a German contemporary artist. His work is extremely diverse and ranges from early architectural installations to small scale figures. Thomas Schutte’s creations include; monuments, banners, photographs, flags and an extensive set of watercolors. Thomas's early work was mostly architectural models. Through the years he became preoccupied with the human condition as well as the cultural, social and political elements affecting everyday lives. His representation of those themes came to life through his sculptures, prints, watercolors, photographs and drawings. Thomas Schutte used figuration as the focal point of expression. His well-known series of three monumental-scale figures cast in aluminum is called, Large Ghosts. These figures explore the expressive potential of the human figure. In the early 2000's, Thomas Schutte started a series of small sculptures showing men stuck in mud. He created seventeen versions of these and called them, Grosse Geister. They were created in three different editions with three sculptures in each. Each of the editions used a different medium; steel, polished bronze and aluminum. No two of these sculptures are alike. In 2009 Thomas had a six-meter high bronze sculpture, Mann im Matsch installed in his home town Oldenburg. Thomas Schutte has his art on exhibit throughout the United States and Europe. He presented a solo exhibit at the Museo de Arte Renia Sofia Institute and the Haus der kunst in Munich. Schutte has also exhibited at major institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.