In Patrick Putze’s exhibition, “Perceptions - Reality – Projections,” the artist explores his love of film along with his 21 years of military service in the U.S. Air Force and how the two intersect and profoundly impacted him.

Of particular interest to the artist are the ongoing attempts by Hollywood studio systems to fully mimic war experiences with visuals and action that always feel over the top, Putze believes.

“Film narratives are replete with a range of human emotion, yet mostly fall flat in capturing a truly honest understanding of the military experience,” he said. “When considering a juxtaposition of civilian perceptions, formed through the moviegoing experience with the realities of actual service and combat, there is an inherent disconnect.”

“Perceptions – Reality – Projections” opens with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, November 26 at Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Road. The exhibition continues through January 14. The gallery will be closed December 23-January 5.

Putze said that with the advent of hyper-realistic, high-dollar films like “Apocalypse Now,” “Platoon,” “Full Metal Jacket,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Hurt Locker” or “1917,” the theatrical experience of war and military service feels more accessible than ever. However, an enormous chasm exists between the projected frames of a film and the warrior’s experiences.

“The main difference is that the viewer is free to get out of their seat and leave the theater should they choose, going about their daily existence with nary a thought of the film and characters afterwards,” Putze said. “Moviegoers may experience some form of sympathy, yet they will never understand the effect of war and service on another. In all actuality, the same goes for the veterans themselves.”

The works featured in the exhibition are re-photographed single frames from wildly successful feature films produced since the late 1970s. Several prints are from award-winning documentaries produced after the fact. The viewer must decide which is which, Putze said.

Several works are made from uniforms worn by Putze’s family members and those he wore during his military career. The images on these “adorned” uniforms speak to the camaraderie inherent in brothers in arms while many of the prints are Hollywood’s inexperienced interpretation.

Patrick Gale Putze is an artist, a filmmaker, a writer, and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, retiring after 21 years of service in 2011. He holds a BFA with an emphasis in photography from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and MA in journalism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

His practice is based in the camera arts of photography and filmmaking. Putze also paints and works across several other mediums. Much of his art is focused on his concerns about societal observation – seemingly a complete lack of it – and investigation of his surroundings. He believes our place in this world is constantly in flux, and much of his still photographic work seeks to capture these singular places in time, as well as comment on his own biography and his place in the larger scheme of things.

Putze is currently in pre-production on two documentary films: “Joe: Coming Home” focuses on a man who is all at once the sweetest, most giving man you have ever met; a Vietnam veteran who is a life-long artist; and an adult struggling at times to figure his own place in the world. The film will encapsulate the veteran artist’s struggles with PTSD and how his childhood and the Vietnam War changed his world, shaping his artwork in the process.

The second film tackles veteran issues of disability and the re-acclimation to civilian life – a continuous struggle for many who have served, particularly those who have served in the ongoing wars of the last 20 plus years.