EXHIBITION

Welcome to Bliss Point

Sep 7, 2019 – Nov 11, 2019
Shattuck Gallery & GNC Gallery

Welcome to Bliss Point explores the relationships between the current sense of feel-good euphoria sweeping our culture and the food phenomenon known as bliss point.

Utilizing commonly consumed materials throughout his work, and infusing them with a sense of aggressive engagement, artist Keith Kaziak exposes concerns in our precarious culture and times. Structural forms, iconic symbols, commercial culture, and sociopolitical disconnections provoke the viewer to decode and react to his work. On view is sculpture, sound, language, and installations to create an exaggerated view of contemporary American life.

Made possible by The Frank C. Shattuck Community Fund and the Sandra & Monroe Trout Art Exhibitions Endowment Fund both within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.

About the artist

Keith Kaziak is a sculptor and mixed media artist. He received his BFA (emphasis Sculpture) from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2004. Kaziak currently works at UW-Stevens Point as the Safety and Studio Coordinator in the Art & Design Department and as the Gallery Preparator for the Edna Carlsten Art Gallery. He also serves on the Board of the Stevens Point Sculpture Park. As a sculptor and iron caster, Kaziak has organized and participated in numerous iron pours throughout the Midwest. He has participated at the International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art (Ironbridge, England) and at the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices (Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, AL). In 2019, he will begin MFA studies at UW-Madison as an Interdisciplinary Artist Research Cohort Fellow.

Kaziak actively exhibits his work nationally and overseas, including most recently at The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI (solo, 2019); The Pool Art Center Gallery, Drury University, Springfield, MO (juried, 2019); Quarter Gallery, UMN, Minneapolis (invited group, 2019); The Trout Museum of Art, Appleton, WI (juried, 2019); Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA), Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea (juried, 2019); and DeVos Art Museum, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI (juried, 2018). His sculpture series, home, is included in ACREofART, a public sculpture exhibit in Appleton, WI (2018-2020) and at Wayne State College, Wayne, NE (2018-2019). Recent awards include a Creative Dissemination Award, UW-Stevens Point Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (2019) and the Interdisciplinary Artist Research Cohort Fellowship, UW-Madison School of Education and the Department of Art (2019-2022).

Exhibit Tours
Take a guided adventure with docent-led tours Saturdays at 11:00am. Call to confirm availability.

Group & School Tours
We’re excited to see you at The Trout Museum of Art! Please contact our education coordinator, Marci Hoffman at mhoffman@troutmuseum.org or by calling (920) 733-4089 to discuss tour options.