Almine Rech New York, Upper East Side is pleased to present Timothy Curtis's second solo exhibition with the gallery. Curtis was first introduced to the arts via graffiti writing as a young child in Philadelphia. Later, while serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence, he immersed himself in the study of art history, drawing, and painting. He emerged from the prison system with a fully formed artistic vision and distinctive style, through which he established a focused studio practice in late 2015.
A talented graffiti writer as a teenager, Curtis has continued to be influenced by this art form today. While his graphic use of line and vibrant color appear both decorative and aesthetically joyful, beneath their initial appeal there is more. His practice is the natural continuation of a rich artistic tradition from the region of his birth. Aside from the Philadelphia graffiti that he was surrounded by at a young age, Curtis has also started to recognize another artistic influence on his work, that of the Pennsylvania stoneware of the 1860s. Like the distinctive and regionally specific graffiti of 1970s Philadelphia, the stoneware of that same region also maintains a visually unique and iconic imagery within the medium.
