Image: Kristie Bretzke, Coal Room (BH), 2017, Oil on linen, 30 x 30 in.

When: January 8 – February 16, 2018

Gallery hours: Monday–Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and by appointment

Free and open to the public

Traffic Zone Gallery presents Kristie Bretzke: Coal Room, an exhibition of new psychological portraits by this Minneapolis-based artist. Kristie Bretzke’s portraits are simple, quiet and introspective. Her focus is specific and personal. Her current exhibition, Coal Room, features portraits inspired by the moody, cool light of the basement coal room at an artist retreat on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. This exhibition is a culmination of many years of intense study and obsessive observation. Bretzke’s work has been described as strikingly straightforward and classical, but her slightly voyeuristic perspective lends a modern edge.

Artist Biography

Kristie Bretzke is a painter and sculptor with a BFA degree from the University of Minnesota. Kristie has had solo exhibitions at Groveland Gallery, XYandZ Gallery, Premier Gallery, and the Traffic Zone Gallery, all in Minneapolis. Kristie has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including Winfield Gallery in California and Kaiping Art Museum in Kaiping, China. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Kunstlerhaus in Salzburg, Austria, CAMAC in Marnay sur Seine, France and Palazzo Rinaldi in Noepoli, Italy. Kristie is currently represented by Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis.

Mission Statement: Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art supports the work of mid-career professional artists with high-quality, affordable studios and the engagement of audiences with gallery exhibitions, open studio events, art classes and workshops.