About

(b. 1986, Chicago)

Elise Putnam uses satirical imagery, installations, and performances to question our understanding of ourselves and our relation to those we consider "other". Her images mock and mimic the narcissistic self-valorization of colonialism and whiteness.

Putnam has an MFA from the University of Chicago; an MA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and a BA from The University of California, Berkeley. She served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa; was artist in residence at San Jose State University; has taught in K-12 schools throughout the Bay Area, Chicago, and South Africa; and was a lecturer in the Department of Art Practice, UC Berkeley. 

Putnam lives and works in Chicago, IL and Brooklyn, NY.