About Reid Bruner

Born on the Southside of Indianapolis, Indiana, Reid Bruner studies at Butler University—where he will receive a B.A. in Art + Design, a B.S. in Gender Studies, and a minor in Spanish. His present body of work draws upon the rich history of identity artists and focuses on the dehumanization and invisiblization of “othered” persons. Along with examination of sexuality and religion and inclusion of identity politics, another common theme runs throughout his artwork: how language and text is twisted, morphed, and formed across time to buttress the oppressive systems of every place and era. To accomplish this, Reid creates photographs, sculptures, installations, mixed media pieces, performative pieces, and communal/relational art pieces that speak to these issues. Mixed media artworks, photographs and sketches are layered with paint, newspaper, pages from literature, charcoal text, and components from the natural world (flowers, soil, rocks, and water). By combining these natural and synthetic elements, obscuring the text, and letting a chaotic texture and composition reign, the tension between oppressed and oppressive forces is conveyed and the prevalence of censorship in our culture is critiqued. Performative pieces use similar methods, layering disparate media on a performer’s body and obscuring meaning. By involving the community and allowing the audience to have direct influence on the outcome of the art, communal and relational art pieces flip the hierarchy of artist/audience. Reid has had several poems published in Butler’s literary + art magazine Manuscripts (“Homecoming,” “An Apostate Sermon: Coming Home, 2011,” and “Riverwild Chorus”) and in the Central Indiana Region Scholastic Writing 2011 Competition Anthology (“Homecoming,” “Routine Maintenance,” “Roots,” “Wishful Projections,” “Post-Script,” “Choruses of the Home Pt. 1 and 2”). He also recently received a grant to research, write an analysis, and produce a body of artwork on the subject of Ophelia. His work has been exhibited at the Center Grove Arts program exhibition in Fountain Square (March 2011) and at Butler University’s ART NOW (December 2011, April 2012, December 2012, and April 2013).