FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Feb 2014
MassMu Studio M to Present INTERSECTION, Photographs by luke kurtis
New York City-based interdisciplinary artist luke kurtis [he prefers using all lower case for his artistic name] will exhibit his INTERSECTION exhibition in Studio M at the Massillon Museum. The opening reception, Saturday, March 8, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., will be free and open to the public. No reservations will be necessary.
Several exhibitions will open during the same evening—Imagining a Better World: The Artwork of Nelly Toll, Paul Brown: The Professional Years, You Go Girl!, and Massillon and the War of the Rebellion: Significant Objects from the Permanent Collection.
luke kurtis earned a bachelor of arts degree in 2003 from CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies. Georgia-born, he is now a Greenwich Village resident who focuses on the intersection of photography, writing, and design. Self-portraiture is an ongoing element of the artist’s photography as is his interest in art/architecture, nature/abstraction, and digital collage/video. Bookmaking is one of his primary activities, as it fuses the visual and the literary beyond gallery walls and into the hands of viewers.
He is the creative director for New Lit Salon Press—a collaboration with Brian Centrone—overseeing all aspects of publication design, art direction, artist relationships, and social media promotion. He is a contributor to Getty Images. The artist delivered multimedia lectures at Chattooga County Library (Summerville, GA) and LaFayette-Walker Public Library (LaFayette, GA) in conjunction with his Jordan’s Journey exhibition in June of 2012. To learn more about the artist, visit www.lukekurtis.com.
INTERSECTION is a poetic interpretation of the artist’s roots in the rural South, focusing on landscape, nature, and architecture. The photographs were taken with a meditative approach, mostly in the northwest Georgia counties of Chattooga, Walker, and Whitfield. “INTERSECTION is my ode to the south,” kurtis says. “These works show what I saw after going back there. I wanted to use my sense of artistry—what I see as a very ‘New York’ part of myself—to expose an unseen side of the South.” Early works from the series and the related Jordan’s Journey project were first displayed in 2012 at the Summerville Library. Work from these projects has also been seen in LaFayette, Villanow, and Dalton, GA; Chattanooga, TN; Portland, OR; Raleigh, NC, and New York City.
The artist’s work is housed in the public collections of the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA; Dallas Public Library, Dallas, TX; Denver Public Library, Denver, CO; the Genealogical Society of Utah/Family Search, Salt Lake City, UT; LaFayette-Walker Public Library, LaFayette, GA; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; New York Public Library, NYC; RikArt Artist Book Collection, Rikhardinkatu Library, Helsinki, Finland; St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO; the September 11 Digital Archive; and the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WI. luke kurtis artwork is part of private collections in the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, and Spain.
Some of the photographs in the Studio M exhibition have been published in kurtis’s INTERSECTION zine. (A zine is a self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images usually photocopied in small quantities.) ”Art is not an artifact but an experience,” kurtis says. ”The process is the performance.” The genesis of the INTERSECTION zine is about the exploration of that process. Pulling from his vast archive of work from the past 15 years, he says, ”INTERSECTION provides a way to re-contextualize, re-evaluate, and reveal.” The idea of the zine—because of its physical nature—embodies a temporal quality. ”INTERSECTION exists in the physical world in cheaply photocopied open editions. Yet, it still has a disposable, scarce quality,” kurtis says. The zines are featured in an installation art piece that is part of the exhibition. Some of the exhibition photographs also have been published in the journal, Georgia Backroads.
luke kurtis partially funded INTERSECTION through a Kickstarter campaign, exceeding the funding goal in only twelve days.
The Massillon Museum receives operational support from the Ohio Arts Council and ArtsinStark. Studio M enhances the collaboration between the Museum and the community by showcasing the artistic talents of local, regional, and national artists. The series of five-week shows will continue throughout the year, selected by jurors from proposals submitted by artists. Brochures containing guidelines and an application are available by contacting the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or www.massillonmuseum.org.
INTERSECTION may be seen through April 19 during regular Museum hours: Tuesday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. In addition to the exhibitions that open on March 8 along with the luke kurtis show, visitors will be able to see A Century of Service: Massillon Community Hospital School of Nursing, The Immel Circus, the Massillon-manufactured 1907 Jewel automobile, a Ray Bradbury display from the collection of Mark Dawidziak, an exhibit about Harvey the canine Civil War mascot, Oscar the skeleton, and the operable vintage photobooth.
The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon, Ohio. Free parking is available on adjacent streets and in nearby city lots. Admission to the Massillon Museum is always free.
Media Contacts:
Alexandra Nicholis Coon, Massillon Museum Executive Director – 330.833.4061
Margy Vogt, Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator – 330.844.1525