Tom Arndt American, b. Born in 1944

Overview

Born in Minneapolis, Tom Arndt’s photography focuses on his native Minnesota. Belonging to the grand, classic tradition of American documentary photography, Tom Arndt’s body of work offers us a sensitive, empathetic portrayal: a family album of the people who live in his state including their coffee shops and soda fountains, their streets, their shop windows, their parks, the popular state fairs. Pessimism and pity are out of place here. As Arndt’s friend and well known writer Garrison Keillor points out, Tom Arndt photographs the DNA of Minnesotan culture: the poor and the left out.

Tom Arndt belongs to the silver print processing tradition; his printing is exceptionally beautiful. He spends at least several hours daily in the darkroom; he really loves the paper print.

Arndt received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1968) and did graduate study at the University of Minnesota (1969-1971). His photographs have been exhibited at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and other venues. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; George Eastman House, Rochester, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

In 2023, Leica Fotographie International magazine published a portfolio from the book American Reflections, published in 2022 by the Atelier EXB. 

Works
  • Tom Arndt, Beauty shop window, Minneapolis, 1970
    Beauty shop window, Minneapolis, 1970
  • Tom Arndt, Merry Christmas, Chicago, 1992
    Merry Christmas, Chicago, 1992
  • Tom Arndt, Street musician, Chicago, 1997
    Street musician, Chicago, 1997
  • Tom Arndt, 38th & Chicago, June 2020
    38th & Chicago, June 2020
  • Tom Arndt, Shiny Coat, Minneapolis, 1970
    Shiny Coat, Minneapolis, 1970
  • Tom Arndt, Ticket taker, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1973
    Ticket taker, Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1973
  • Tom Arndt, Chicago, Illinois, 1975
    Chicago, Illinois, 1975
  • Tom Arndt, Anoka, Minnesota, 1975
    Anoka, Minnesota, 1975
  • Tom Arndt, Anoka, Minnesota, 1975
    Anoka, Minnesota, 1975
  • Tom Arndt, 38th & Chicago, June 2020
    38th & Chicago, June 2020
  • Tom Arndt, 38th & Chicago, June 2020
    38th & Chicago, June 2020
  • Tom Arndt, 38th & Chicago, June 2020
    38th & Chicago, June 2020
  • Tom Arndt, 38th & Chicago, June 2020
    38th & Chicago, June 2020
  • Tom Arndt, Bar scene, Chicago, 1990
    Bar scene, Chicago, 1990
  • Tom Arndt, Man in a shoe store, Chicago, 1992
    Man in a shoe store, Chicago, 1992
  • Tom Arndt, Camping, Yellow Stone national Park, 1978
    Camping, Yellow Stone national Park, 1978
  • Tom Arndt, Freed Hostage Parade, New York City, 1981
    Freed Hostage Parade, New York City, 1981
  • Tom Arndt, Two friends at a farm auction, Minnesota, 2009
    Two friends at a farm auction, Minnesota, 2009
  • Tom Arndt, Woman and Furcoat, New York City, 1980
    Woman and Furcoat, New York City, 1980
  • Tom Arndt, Man on a newspaper stand, Chicago, 1987
    Man on a newspaper stand, Chicago, 1987
  • Tom Arndt, Street Preacher, Chicago, 2001
    Street Preacher, Chicago, 2001
  • Tom Arndt, Two people on a bus, Chicago, 1987
    Two people on a bus, Chicago, 1987
  • Tom Arndt, Young women, Englewood, Chicago, 2000
    Young women, Englewood, Chicago, 2000
  • Tom Arndt, Beauty shop window n°2, Minneapolis, 1970
    Beauty shop window n°2, Minneapolis, 1970
Series
Biography

Born in 1944, lives and works in Minnesota (USA)

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017               Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2016               Home, Artothèque, Vitré.

2014               Home, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris.

2012               4th of July, Haggerty Museum, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI.

2010               Being Human, Galerie Axel Breuer, Munich, Allemagne.

2009               Tom Arndt's Minnesota, Minneapolis Institute of Art.

2006               Minnesota, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York.

2002               American Photographs, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

2001               The Big Picture, Photographs by Tom Arndt, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MI.

1999               A City Called Heaven, Beloit College, WI.

1998               Recent Work, Institute of Design, Chicago, IL.

1995               Chicagoland, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MI.

1992               Men in America, Art Institute of Chicago, IL.

1989               Tart Gallery, Washington D.C.

1989               Photofind Gallery, New York, NY.

1986               Edwynn Houk Gallery, Chicago, IL.

1986               Light Gallery, New York, NY.

1984               H.F. Manes' Gallery, New York, NY.

1984               Tom Arndt's America, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MI.

1977               O.K. Harris, New York, NY.

 

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

2016               A democracy of imagery, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

2015               Chicago Eyes, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris

2009               Picturing New York, exposition itinérante organisée par le MoMA de New York, présentée en Italie, Irlande et Espagne.

2008               The Minnesota Eye, College of Visual Art Gallery St. Paul, MI.

                      Hall to the Chief, Minneapolis Institute of Art, MI.

2007               New York at Night, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

2006               From Darkroom to Digital, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2004               Photographs by the score, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2002               City of Life, photographs of New York from the permanent collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

2001               The Sidewalk Never Ends, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

2001               Street Photography, Candace Perich Gallery, Katonah, NY.

2000               City 2000, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL.

                      The Face of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society,

                       Crossing the Line, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

1999               The American Farm, Candace Perich Gallery, Katonah, NY.

1997               New Faces, photographs from the permanent collection, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

1996               Crossing the Frontier, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.

1996               The Subject Was Music, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

1992               At the Edge of Shelter: Homeless in Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

1982               Twentieth Century Photographs from the Museum of Modern Art, Seibu Museum, Tokyo Japan

1973               Midwest Photographer's Invitational, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MI.

1970               6th Artist's Biennial, Minneapolis Institute of Art, MI.

 

SELECTED EDITIONS

2001               Bystander, A History of Street Photography, Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz

1997               A World History of Photography, Naomi Rosenblum

1995               Men In America, photographs by Tom Arndt, National Museum of American Art

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