Conceptual nominee

This is a small sampling of a continuing series of memories real and imagined from growing up at the edge of midwestern suburbs. Children’s neighborhood folklore, the late night creature feature, the no-mans lands between the wild and the tamed. This is where you can see man’s imprint begin and the animals that inhabit and adapt to that land. It’s as if James Audubon surveyed the American yard and rendered it in blacklight posters.

Tod Kapke's work is a reflection of influences from Tex Avery to Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Brothers Quay, and Joel-Peter Witkin. Experimenting has always been at the core of all of it. He is interested in the idea of process-oriented art, turning to photography as a way to test out these ideas quickly. The work has always been about the use of metaphor, handy crafts, and trick-of-the-eye whimsy. He is based in Denver Colorado and a 2018 winner of PDN's The Curator Award.