Richard Kurtz
Mixed Media
As a young boy I remember going to my father’s study and cutting up paper, gluing shapes. I was mesmerized. In grade school I can remember the occasional art class and the feeling of intoxication I would feel being able to express myself. The drawn line contained millions of vibrations and excitement for me. In 1975, at Kenyon College I reawakened these childhood memories during a photography class. During the critique process, I realized that the images I took could hold meaning. I felt alive. I wanted to continue on this path.
Upon graduation I traveled to New York City with my photography portfolio seeking work. I sublet a loft on Canal St. in New York City. At about this time I went to a photography show at MOMA (Mirrors and Windows). All the photographers whose work I liked who lived in the city I contacted. I met the likes of Lucas Samaras and Irving Penn and was hired as a freelance assistant by Tetsu Okuhara, a Japanese-American photographer. Combined with doing some production work on T.V. commercials and working with Tetsu, I began my New York art experience.
By 1979 I was living in “Alphabet City” at 7th St. and Ave. C, better known as the East Village. The East Village art scene was burgeoning, from Patti Astors’ Fun Gallery, which showed the work of Kenny Scharf among other “stars” to Gracie Mansion, who showed the work of Keith Haring. The East Village scene was a sky filled with art stars. It was a cutting edge scene of music and art.
I found my “images” lent themselves to the moving image and I began to seek work on films. This activity culminated in my hiring by Martin Scorsese as a personal/production assistant on the film After Hours in 1984. I saw first hand the energy required to make a film from the pre-production stage to the final screening. At this time I was doing my own paintings and showing my work in group shows around the East Village. I was offered a two-person show by the Romanian, Lubo Rastovski at his 6th Street gallery. Also, I began to paint on fabric and my painted images were accepted into shows at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and The Madison Art Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
To make ends meet I continued to work in the film industry and worked part-time for Jonathan Scull at his limousine company. His parents Ethel and Robert were major art collectors who had championed the likes of Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol. Through Mr. Sculls’ company I met and drove many artists including Andy Warhol, Brice Marden, Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mary Boone and many others. I was exposed to another aspect of the art world that of the Art Star. During this time I would on occasion sell a painting; but it was an artists’ financial struggle for me.
In 1985 for health reasons I began to travel and live in Mexico for four to five months a year (1985-1990). I traveled extensively throughout Mexico seeing the works of Tamayo, Siquieros and the rich Mexican tradition. I was enlivened by the wonderful painterly light and color everywhere in Mexico.
www.richardkurtz.com
Upon graduation I traveled to New York City with my photography portfolio seeking work. I sublet a loft on Canal St. in New York City. At about this time I went to a photography show at MOMA (Mirrors and Windows). All the photographers whose work I liked who lived in the city I contacted. I met the likes of Lucas Samaras and Irving Penn and was hired as a freelance assistant by Tetsu Okuhara, a Japanese-American photographer. Combined with doing some production work on T.V. commercials and working with Tetsu, I began my New York art experience.
By 1979 I was living in “Alphabet City” at 7th St. and Ave. C, better known as the East Village. The East Village art scene was burgeoning, from Patti Astors’ Fun Gallery, which showed the work of Kenny Scharf among other “stars” to Gracie Mansion, who showed the work of Keith Haring. The East Village scene was a sky filled with art stars. It was a cutting edge scene of music and art.
I found my “images” lent themselves to the moving image and I began to seek work on films. This activity culminated in my hiring by Martin Scorsese as a personal/production assistant on the film After Hours in 1984. I saw first hand the energy required to make a film from the pre-production stage to the final screening. At this time I was doing my own paintings and showing my work in group shows around the East Village. I was offered a two-person show by the Romanian, Lubo Rastovski at his 6th Street gallery. Also, I began to paint on fabric and my painted images were accepted into shows at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and The Madison Art Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
To make ends meet I continued to work in the film industry and worked part-time for Jonathan Scull at his limousine company. His parents Ethel and Robert were major art collectors who had championed the likes of Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol. Through Mr. Sculls’ company I met and drove many artists including Andy Warhol, Brice Marden, Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mary Boone and many others. I was exposed to another aspect of the art world that of the Art Star. During this time I would on occasion sell a painting; but it was an artists’ financial struggle for me.
In 1985 for health reasons I began to travel and live in Mexico for four to five months a year (1985-1990). I traveled extensively throughout Mexico seeing the works of Tamayo, Siquieros and the rich Mexican tradition. I was enlivened by the wonderful painterly light and color everywhere in Mexico.
www.richardkurtz.com