Born in Edmonton, Alberta 1967
Lives and works in Calgary, Canada
Artist Statement
Curtis Cutshaw’s paintings show us how a painting is made. Each step of the Artist’s process can be seen. Each choice is there for the viewer to unravel, as if stopped in time. Each piece shows a choice, a step forward to the final realization of the complete painting.
Fractured and deconstructed images on individual birch wood tiles create a sense of removal of meaning. Scratched, rubbed, marked, erased and distressed images hint at repurposing and the multiple pieces appear to have had a history, where in fact the artist creates them. The viewers’ mind wants to reassemble the pieces and use what is there to create what is not there. Cutshaw does not allow for the accidental. The works may appear spontaneous, yet every piece, every mark; whether it is painted, drawn or scratched, is intentional and created by the artist. The artists’ touch, his hand and his construction are at the center of each work.
Cutshaw has an ongoing dialogue with the picture plane. Depending on what the artist does with each piece in the painting, he either adds to or denies spatial reference. A mark scratched into the surface flattens the picture plane, denying illusionistic space, bringing the viewers’ eye to the surface; where half of a circle implies the whole, creating illusionistic space. Through Cutshaw’s paintings, the viewer can experience this dichotomy and the viewer is able to see one choice and a thousand choices through assemblage. Each shape is a record of a moment that can be seen, experienced, and arrived.
Education
Curtis Cutshaw received his B.F.A from the Alberta College of Art + Design. While still a student, Cutshaw was accepted into the New York Loft Program where he was mentored by well known American artists Peter Halley and David Diao. After graduation, Cutshaw attended the prestigious summer residency program at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine, USA. At Skowhegan Cutshaw was mentored by British artist John Walker, as well as American artists Terry Winters, Connie Fox, Judy Rifka, Leon Golub and Bill King. Cutshaw also attended the International Artist Workshops in Emma Lake, Saskatchewan. Cutshaw has shown across the United States, Canada and internationally. His work is in numerous public and private collections including Nordstrom, Alberta Foundation for The Arts, Cenovus Energy, Encana Corporation, Mount Royal University, Shell Limited, and Wilson Laycraft LLP.
1989 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine, USA Summer Residency Program
1989 Alberta College of Art, Calgary, AB, Canada, Diploma of Painting (with Distinction)
1988 Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, New York, NY, USA New York Loft Program
1986 Red Deer College, Red Deer, AB, Canada Summer Painting Residency Program
Selected Exhibitions
2017 50, solo show. Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary AB
2017 Summer Group Show, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary AB
2017 20 Years Kostuik Gallery, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
2016 Construct, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
2015 Backroom, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
2015 Summer Group Show, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary AB
2014 Levels and Constructs, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary AB
2014 HK Summer 14 Group Show, The Painters, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary AB
2014 Winter Group Show, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
2013 Group Show, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
2013 Art Rise. The Art Gallery of Calgary.
2013 Art for Food-Group Show. Herringer Kiss Gallery 2013 Winter Group Show. Herringer Kiss Gallery
2012 Watermark, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2012 Art for Food- Group Show. Herringer Kiss Gallery
2012 Watermark, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Calgary, AB
2012 Indigo, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2011 Art for Food-Group Show Herringer Kiss Gallery
2011 Pull, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2010 Fresh Paint, Alberta Foundation for the Arts Traveling Exhibition, AB 2010 Sketchbook Project, Art House Coop, Brooklyn NY
2009 Group Exhibition, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2008 Summer Group Exhibition, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2007 Group Show, Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
2007 The Dowsing Rod Series, Skew Gallery, Calgary, AB 2007 Blindspot, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
The Dowsing Rod Series, SKEW Gallery, Calgary AB 2006 Advent, Halde Galerie, Widen, Switzerland
Curtis Cutshaw New Work, Halde Galerie, Widen Switzerland 2005 Sprung: Group Exhibition, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver BC
Breathing Light, Skew Gallery, Calgary, AB
2004 Wet Paint, Group Show, Skew Gallery, Calgary, AB
A Hundred Cares, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC 2001 Royer Group, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Abstraction, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary, AB 2000 Fresh, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver, BC 1998 Miramar, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1997 Four Independents, Deacon Ulrich Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1995 CUTSHAW, HALLIDAY, KOTTMANN, Sebastian Yoon Fine Arts, Calgary, AB
1992 Miramar, New Paintings by Curtis Cutshaw, 371 Gallery, Alberta College of Art & Design, Calgary 1989 Twenty Painters, Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture,Skowhegan, Maine, USA
Graduating Students Exhibition, Alberta College of Art, Main Gallery, Calgary, AB
The First Annual Awards Reception Show, Alberta College of Art, Student Gallery, Calgary, AB
Fusion, Mount Royal College, Calgary, AB
Nineteen in 89-ACA Painting Graduates, Mixed Media Gallery, Calgary, AB
Works on Paper, Emily Carr College of Art & Design, Vancouver, BC 1988 Group Show, Alberta College of Art, Student Gallery, Calgary, AB
Four Painters: Curtis Cutshaw, Barbra Leidl, Yvonne Markotic, Brenda Whiteman, DL Gallery, Calgary, AB
Pentimental, Alberta College of Art, Student Gallery, Calgary, AB
1987 Twenty Paintings by Curtis Cutshaw, Alberta College of Art, Mall Gallery, Calgary Awards
The Alberta Award
Laura Mae Stillings Award
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture Benniy & Smith Canada LTD. Award
Illingworth Kerr Scholarship, New York Loft Program Calgary Sketch Club Award
Art Fairs
2017 TIAF, Toronto International, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Toronto ON
2016 Context Art Miami, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Miami FL
2014 TIAF, Toronto International, Herringer Kiss Gallery, Toronto ON
2012 artMRKT San Francisco, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, San Francisco CA 2011 Art Miami, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Miami FL
2011 TIAF, Toronto International, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Toronto ON
2010 TIAF, Toronto International, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Toronto ON
2007 Photo Miami, SKEW Gallery, Miami FL
2006 Photo Miami, Miami Basel, Miami FL
Collections
Alberta Foundation For The Arts Encana
Cenovus Canada Mount Royal University Shell Canada Limited
Wilson Laycraft LLP
Nordstrom
Various Private Collections
Press
2017 Galleries West- Curtis Cutshaw 50
2017 Canadian Art- Must See Show Curtis Cutshaw
2017 Critics at Large- Tectonic: The Quantum Paintings of Curtis Cutshaw. Donald Brackett.
2016 Alberta Foundation for the Arts- Influential Artists Nomination 2016
2014 Fast Forward Weekly
2014 Avenuecalgary.ca Avenue Magazine
2014 Beatroute.ca- Arteries
2014 Wherevent.ca
2014 Canadian Art Magazine. Montreal, Canada.
2014 Galleries West
2012 Artsy-Dartsy.com
2012 Vancouver Magazine- Artist invents new way of drawing.
2012 Art Pr Wire
2012 Swerve Magazine April 2012
2012 Preview the Gallery Guide, review April 2012, Mia Johnson
2007 Scott Rogers, Strange Creatures: Curtis Cutshaw’s subtle, energetic works, FFWD Weekly, May 24 2007
2007 Nancy Tousley, Divining a new way of Drawing, Calgary Herald, May 20, 2007, C4
2007 Canadian Art Magazine.
2007 National Post- Blindspot
2005 Emily Barnett, Art & Style: A Guild to Art for the Home, Beautiful Homes Magazine, Dec. 2005,
Nice Homes Magazine, May 2005 Page 32.
Curtis Cutshaw, Galleries West Magazine, Summer 2005 Page 30.
2004 CBC News, Evening News, Vancouver, BC.Lin Connery, The Next Wave: Calgary’s Rising Young Artists Calgary Herald, Sept.4, 2000, pg AG1 AG2.
1988 Kate Zimmerman, Travel Broadens Students' Vistas, The Calgary Herald, April 22, 1989, Sec D, p7
Professional Development
2001 Saskatchewan Invitational Artist's Workshop University of Saskatchewan, Kenderdine Campus, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan
TEW Galleries is one of Atlanta's Leading Contemporary Galleries since 1987
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