Tonja Steel
May 14, 2008

A picture may be worth a thousand words, unless your Palm Springs artist Richard Curtner, then you can make a picture with a thousand words. Curtner is a self taught artist who works in many mediums but specializes in textual collages. I first saw his work at the Henderson Arts Fair in Nevada where a crowd of people had squeezed into the tiny booth to see his work. What struck me most was the degree of complexity in each piece and the ability of the art to tell a story on so many different levels.

While most artists work with a color palette or paint, Curtner perfects his pieces with an exacto knife and stacks of vintage and upscale magazines. He has files with hundreds of shades of red, blue, grey, green not to mention several shades of skin tones. He begins each piece with a central theme and then looks for the colors and words to match the theme. Simple object from telephones to coffee cups come to life with thousands of tiny pieces intricately laid together to make the perfect design. "Shading is key," he says. Even his signature is tediously hand cut using magazine pages.

His textual collages take anywhere from 30 hours or more to make and are popular at festivals around the country where Curtner exhibits. I witnessed one couple agonize over which print to buy, each pointing out clever sayings and wording with in each piece. The pieces can take not only some time to make but also to view. In addition to festivals, Curtner sells his pieces on line although he enjoys the interaction that festivals bring. People often stand for some time reading them. "I try to see how much they are getting out of the piece," he says, "and they are pointing out stuff to me that I have even forgotten I put there."

few of my favorites are the drink series featuring "American Martini" and "Jamaican Sunset." Curtner also takes on romanitc scenes with several faceless men and women riding in cars, kissing, and smart single ladies in various poses. One piece called "Passion" shows a man carrying a woman and holding a set of golf clubs. The piece is the story of two passions – golf and romance or as Curtner likes to say "Passion for the game and passion for the girl." Small prints start at $40 and his musuem quality orginials sell in the hundreds. Double passions seem to be in play in more ways than one - Curtner is passionate for his craft and art collectors are passionate about buying it.

Article by:
Tonja Steel