301

David Kurtz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and demonstrated a strong drive toward art from an early age. Between 1988 and 1994, he participated in multiple after-school and summer art programs, studying drawing and painting under landscape artist Ross Meyer and attending Johnson’s Atelier – Summer Arts Education Collective.

Kurtz went on to study at the Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts in Norman, Oklahoma, where he worked with artists including Julie Green, David Hissey, and Dr. Andrew Phelan. While at Weitzenhoffer, Kurtz participated in several exhibitions at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and the Lightwell Gallery, a space typically reserved for visiting artists.

In 2001, Kurtz relocated to Denver, Colorado, where his practice expanded to include music performance and live painting. During this period, he founded Rilla Creative, an artist-run gallery and creative space that hosted group exhibitions often accompanied by live music, experimental film, and performance art.

In 2013, Kurtz moved to San Francisco to pursue work in design, photography, and visual art. Since then, he has provided creative direction and management for a range of companies and organizations, including Goorin Brothers, Flickr, SmugMug, and Awesome, Inc.

Drawing on his background in art history and a progressive social perspective, Kurtz’s work engages themes such as gender equity, economic disparity, civil rights, and the influence of religion. His practice often balances critical inquiry with dark humor, aiming to provoke both discomfort and delight—inviting viewers, in his words, “to wince and smile at the same time.”