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Artists

Kim Curtis

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Thirtyseven is a two-lane highway that winds at water level through the northern edge of the San Francisco bay system. Though used primarily by commuters on their way to somewhere else, attentive drivers will wish they could stop alongside for hours to watch and look.

As with any natural environment, the layout changes with every season, hour and in this case even with the tide. The place is a maze of wetland waterways, tall grasses, scrubby bushes and all sorts of man-made constructions that reflect its various uses over time. There are stops for fisherman to board the planks afforded them, and for birdwatchers to use their binoculars and notepads. There are views in all directions of water, wildlife, rolling California hills, man-made leftovers and mysterious whatnot.

As with all of my work, my focus is to recapture the sense of immediacy when confronted with a place like this. Especially when driving, but even while slowly walking, the mind is bombarded by simultaneous information. We note consistencies and irregularities, changes in light and shadow, spontaneous appearances of color, and vast chunks of area we don’t understand. We are reminded that what we see is both familiar and unintelligible.

The paintings I created over the nine months I spent in Marin county are a result of this kind of watching. From my vantage point through and over highway 37 to my daily hikes around its surrounding hills and beaches they are an attempt to remind us that what we see is always both familiar and unintelligible. That just when we think we know a place, we see something we’d never seen before.

EDUCATION
2002
BFA with distinction: Painting, California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC) Principal Instructors: Franklin Williams, Mark Eanes, Christopher Brown.

1990
BA: History of Art, University of California at Berkeley

1988-89
Universitaet zu Goettingen, Germany
Scuola di Lingua e Cultura per Stranieri, Florence, Italy

SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009 (September) kasia kay art projects gallery, Chcago, IL
2008 “Disruption” kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL
2007 “DRIVE: New Work by Kim Curtis”, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL
2006 “Yellow Evening; New Work by Kim Curtis” kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL
“Two Years in the Midwest”, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Urbana IL
2003 “ Kim Curtis”, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, Oakland, CA

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009
NEXT, Chicago: Featured Artist, kasia kay art projects gallery
Summer exhibition, kasia kay art projects gallery

2008
Winter exhibition, kasia kay art projects gallery
AQUA, Miami FL kasiakay art projects gallery
National Organization for Women (NOW) fundraising auction

2007
“New Editions”, Bleu Acier Gallery, Tampa, FL
“Notions of Wilderness” curated by Catherine Forster, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL
Bridge Art Fair, Chicago, IL, represented by kasia kay art projects

2006
Summer Gallery Exhibition, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago, IL
SCOPE New York 2006, represented by kasia kay art projects
“Entre Chien et Loup”, Bleu Acier Gallery, Tampa FL
“Atmospheric”, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago IL

2005
TOJO Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
Springfield Art Association “The Modern Landscape” Springfield, IL
Woman Made Gallery, Juried Members’ Show, Chicago, IL
New Visions Gallery “Culture and Agriculture” Marshfield, WI

2004
National Small Works Juried Exhibition, Schoharie, NY
Springer Cultural Center Juried Exhibition Series, Champaign, IL

2003
Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Public, San Francisco, CA
Green Couch Staging and Design, San Francisco, CA

SELECT PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Morgan Stanley Investments, Madison Street, Chicago, IL
Carle Hospital, Champaign-Urbana IL
Jon “Cody” Sokolski, CEO, One Main Development, Champaign, IL
Inger Stole & Bob McChesney, Dept. of Communications, UIUC and Host: “MediaMatters” WILL radio
Dr. Adam Tooze & Dr. Becky Conekin, Cambridge University/London College of Fashion, UK
Kasia Kay, Owner; kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago IL

PUBLICATIONS
Disruption, exhibition catalogue, kasia kay art projects gallery, Chicago IL
MoonLit, Journal of New Poetry, Chicago, IL: Cover Art
True-Eye magazine, volume 4: www.true-eye.net
Her Mark, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL

AWARDS/HONORS
2007 Critics’ Choice, Chicago Tribune for “Drive” at kasia kay art projects gallery
2006 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Art Auction
National Small Works Exhibition, Schoharie, NY:
Florence French Alumni Scholarship, California College of Arts and Crafts (three years)
Academic Scholarship, California College of Arts and Crafts (three years)

RELATED EXPERIENCE
1995-2001 Master Craftsperson, San Francisco Opera Costume Shop: Constructed armor, masks, jewelry and animals for Costume Department.
1990-2003 Professional Costume Design and Construction