Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Kurtz.
Richard, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Self Taught Artist Richard Kurtz
I started painting in the East Village in the late 1970’s, inspired by the energy of living in New York City and the art world of that time. In the mid 1980’s I began to live and paint in Taxco, Mexico for part of the year. The light in Mexico and the cultural traditions helped to expand my world. In Mexico my subject matter was the mystery and subculture of the Mexican Wrestlers known as Luchadores.
I would travel by bus to Mexico City to watch the carnival atmosphere surrounding these wild matches. I have lived and had an art practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Miami, Spain, and now my studio is in Oxnard, California, where I live with my partner, photographer Jennifer Esperanza. Jennifer represents my work, promotes me and shows the work in International Art Fairs.
We love to have people come visit us in the studio and see my new work. My work is in the collections of Sophie Calle, Paris, France, Audrey Heckler, New York, NY, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, Blake Byrne, Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Everything, London, Maurice Renoma, Paris, France and many more.
Learning to be present and focused is important to me. For many years I have painted prize fighters, survivors of life’s hard knocks. These beings are like teachers, storytellers of staying centered and self reflective, no matter what.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
“Richard Kurtz paints prolifically on almost any substrate he can find. Appropriating everything from children’s books to football helmets, vintage flash cards to large pieces of leftover plywood, Kurtz combines pictorial characters with hand-written aphorisms. His cadre of characters includes boxers, comic book heroes, and sexy ladies in
corsets: all raw, mythic foils, and each presents a confrontation between boyish naiveté and world-weary wisdom, between fairy tale idealization and crude reality.” Clayton Porter THE Magazine
“In Richard Kurtz’s work aggressive vixens, wrestlers and heroes occupy canvas, and found objects in bright colors and bits of painted texts. These characters are repeated mantras in Kurtz’s work, and serve as springboards for new characters. These new characters create a dialogue with the male psyche and serve as a reaction to our culture’s perception of power among the sexes.” Catherine Haley Epstein.
REPOSITORY 212: RICHARD KURTZ | WRESTLERS AND GOLDEN BOOKS
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
One reason we live in Oxnard is that we were able to find a reasonably priced live work studio space here. For the most part artists are priced out of work spaces in Southern, California. Without a patron or benefactor it can be a rough road to journey.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Visit www.richardkurtz.com • www.esperanzaprojects.com @richardkurtzofficial @esperanzaprojects
There are blogs about Richard on www.jenniferesperanza.com & www.mindmarrow.com. People can contact Jennifer Esperanza of Esperanza Projects to make an appointment to see Richard’s work & visit the studio.
Esperanza Projects • REPRESENTING ARTIST RICHARD KURTZ
Jennymahita@gmail.com • 505 204 5729
Esperanza Projects will be showing the work of Richard Kurtz at the 2019 New York City Outsider Art Fair & in Miami during Miami Art Basel in 2018 to be announced.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2201 Statham Blvd #108 Oxnard, Ca 93033
- Website: www.richardkurtz.com • www.esperanzaprojects.com
- Phone: 505 204 5729
- Email: jennymahita@gmail.com
- Instagram: @richardkurtzoffical @esperanzaprojects
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichardKurtzArt/
Image Credit:
All photos by Jennifer Esperanza or Richard Kurtz, All photo © Esperanza Projects.
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