cyberspace and the sea

I had gone away to spend some time out of the city. We booked a house near the sea because it seemed like a relaxing spot. The goal was to disconnect for a while, spend less time looking at screens all day. I took some creative supplies with me, markers and pencils and such, with the vague idea of, should inspiration strike, being creative in an analog way. And, of course, making photos. But I had no grand plan. I didn’t intend to develop a new project. So this is definitely a case of the work finding me instead of me finding it.

The drawings, poems, and photos I made essentially describe my experience that week. I’m literally talking about hanging out by the beach for a few days, trying to recover from a stressful time. On the surface, it’s not so profound. But it’s the mundanity that makes it relatable. I used that simplicity to tap into the subconscious.

After I got back home and realized I had created all this stuff, I wondered what I might do with it. I put together the video art and designed an experience meant to be seen in person, projected in a dark room with surround sound. I even set up a small screen prototype. The work created exactly the immersive and meditative environment I was going for. But given the pandemic, trying to plan an in-person exhibition didn’t feel right. So I began to consider what I could do digitally.

Three monitors showing the seaside magic video art by luke kurtis are the only source of light in the room.
small screen seaside magic video installation prototype

I’ve always been more comfortable in cyberspace, so it’s sort of odd I never did a digital exhibition before. But the pandemic has changed the ways we connect. Besides, I’ve always been somewhat reclusive and find it challenging to communicate with people in person, making digital spaces more effective. So, I hope other people are more open to this way of connecting than they might have been in the past.

It would be easy to think of an online exhibition as an inferior substitute for something else. But I don’t feel that way about this at all. In fact, I’m excited that I can beam this work into your home, no matter where you are in the world.

Please join me and explore seaside magic from your corner of cyberspace. I hope you will approach it with intention and feel the same sense of calm that I felt while making it.

Photography helps bridge the social distancing divide

Rodger Kingston and his wife Carolyn are sheltering in place. “We’re doing well here,” he told me. “We’ve got systems arranged for such things as grocery shopping, going to the pharmacy, post office, bank, etc.” The Kingstons, both in their late 70s, take social distancing very seriously whether running errands or taking walks around their neighborhood in Belmont, Massachusetts. “We feel as if we had targets on our backs and are being very careful,” he said.

Rodger has been a photographer for over four decades. Throughout those years, he’s worked on numerous documentary projects. Given the nature of the coronavirus pandemic—and his need to be extremely vigilant due to his age and health status—he is not able to document what’s happening on the front lines of this war the way he once might have. But those now-systematic errand runs and socially-distanced neighborhood walks allow him to focus his lens in a more personal way.

“In many ways this is a strange project,” he says, “What there is for me to document is the quiet, almost silent restructuring of our world.”

Specialty Selections, Star Market, Cambridge, MA March 2020
Specialty Selections, Star Market, Cambridge, MA March 2020
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Puertas Españolas by Josemaria Mejorada and May Gañán

bd Publication, luke kurtis, photography, poetry, postcard, puertas espaí±olas
bd Publication, luke kurtis, photography, poetry, postcard, puertas espaí±olas
bd Publication, luke kurtis, photography, poetry, postcard, puertas espaí±olas
bd Publication, luke kurtis, photography, poetry, postcard, puertas espaí±olas

I’m so excited to announce the newest publication from bd-studios.com. Puertas Españolas is something a little different than anything else you’ll find in the bd Library. It’s a suite of short poems by Josemaria Mejorada and May Gañán paired with a set of photos I took of various doors while traveling in Spain. Doors are a very interesting part of buildings. I encountered so many unique doors wandering around the streets of Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, and Seville. I decided to publish the images as a set of postcards–but I wanted another voice to work with the images as a counterpoint. Josemaria and May’s poetry is the perfect accompaniment. The poems are not about the images, but, rather, they exist as another layer, providing a glimpse into another world. When we pass through doors, we enter new places, new spaces, and new environments. Josemaria and May have helped me transform these Spanish doors into portals to a realm of poetry. I hope that you will open each door to discover the worlds that await you. The set is very limited. Contact us if you are interested to obtain a copy.

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bad skin in Exposed: The Contemporary Nude

bad skin at 1650 Gallery

Saturday, 24 May marked two important milestones for me as an artist. It was both the exhibition debut of my bad skin series and also my Los Angels debut at large. Exposed: The Contemporary Nude opened at 1650 Gallery. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it out for the opening. But I’m glad to show work in LA. And it seems very appropriate that bad skin–a body of work about looking beyond the perceived imperfections of one’s body–had its exhibition debut in a city known for it’s superficiality.

If you’d like to see the full image, as well as all the other work in the show, you can do so on the gallery’s website. But remember that it is a show of artistic nude photography and therefore may be NSFW! They have included two additional photos of mine in the online annex (also NSFW). The limited edition giclée print in the show is available exclusively from 1650 Gallery. If you are interested in other prints from bad skin, you can contact me directly.

INTERSECTION in ARTWACH, Daily Citizen, and Our View

ARTWACH by Tom Wachunas

Today is the last day of the INTERSECTION exhibition at Massillon Museum. I can’t believe it has come and gone so fast. I’m thankful that it has been written about for posterity, though. Here are some great pieces about the show…

Tom Wachunas of ARTWACH wrote a very thoughtful review of the exhibition. He really took the time to delve into the undertones of what the show is all about. I appreciate it when viewers probe the work and look beyond the surface like Tom did.

Misty Watson of The Daily Citizen wrote a piece about the show as well. Her article is not a review but more of a local interest story that discusses my background in northwest Georgia. Jamie Jones of the same paper had done an article about my Jordan’s Journey project back in 2012 and Misty’s piece is a followup on that.

I also appeared on the podcast Our View with Tim and Jill. We talked about INTERSECTION as well as some other projects I’ve been working on. The episode aired in two parts, so be sure to listen to part 1 and part 2.