1. MAISON&OBJET 2016 VIEW REMARKABLE WORKS from THE BEST IN DESIGN
RS 100 HOME-REVIEW.COMvol 15 issue 03 March 2016 total pages 140
CREATING
FADSEXPERIMENTAL DESIGN BY FADD STUDIO
PRODUCT DESIGNER : MATHIEU LEHANNEURART FORM : WILL KURTZ MY SPACE : ROOSHAD SHROFF
REINVENTING THE IRANI CAFÉ
BY CLEMENT DESYLVA
AN ARCHITECT’S ABODE
VEEKAS STUDIO

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His art forms have a distinct emotive quality that captures the spirit of routine life.

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art form
Text By Kanupriya Pachisia
Photographs Courtesy Will Kurtz
It is often said that art enables
us to both find ourselves and lose
ourselves, all at the same time. Will
Kurtz’s pieces are standing proofs
of just this belief!
When News
Makes Art!
The verbal and the visual operate in different
dimensions. Art picks clues from both and
eventually elevates itself from being a thing
to becoming a way of life. It most curiously
combines the means of expression and
the expression itself, requiring no prattling
exegesis to explain it. It is an inspirational
tool that washes from the soul, the dust of
everyday life.
As Will Kurtz puts it, “People and animals
fascinate me,” thus his subjects rely on
people and animals who are almost
undistinguished and who live on the
margins of society. His art form has a
distinct emotive quality that virtually
captures the spirit of routine life.
Through his sculptures Will expresses the subjects’ innocence and humour which directly has a
universal appeal.

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Born in Flint, Michigan, Will practiced as a
landscape architect for 25 years throughout
the United States and Canada. It wasn’t
until he was in his mid-thirties that he
began creating art as a self-taught artist.
Eventually his passion of art superceded
landscape architecture and he moved to
New York to attend graduate school at the
New York Academy of Art. He says, “At fifty,
I changed careers. To me personally, art
is finding my purpose and doing what
comes naturally - doing something that
affects other people.”
It’s true that an artist’s world is limitless.
It can be found anywhere - far from where
he lives or just a few feet away. It’s always
around. Will uses photography to capture
his art world by clicking moments from
daily lives. He then goes on to create
realistic life size figures of people and
animals using pieces of newspapers and
magazines with an internal structure made
of wood and wire.
The newspaper and magazine pages that
he uses to create his art have a collage
of words and colourful advertising. Will
capitalises upon them and uses them in a
spontaneous, painterly fashion to reflect
the mood and life of the individual he is
trying to model.
Will explains, “It’s the anatomy underneath
which makes the newspaper feel so
alive. There’s this underlying reality and
believability to it.” His subjects are often
comic in character, dress or body type. The
posture, gestures and clothing bring the
figures to life.
Will most adeptly captures both resilience
and vulnerability to embody a true empathy
for the hardships we all share. He shares
how he created a life size sculpture of Linda,
the dog walker who walks 16 dogs at a time
every day - “She is this amazing inspiration
behind this piece; she is really brave. She
lets all the dogs loose and then manages to
keep track of all of them.”
The animals that Will crafts are selected to
show off their unique breed, size, shape or
type of hair. Through them, Will expresses
their innocence and humour both of which
have a universal appeal.
“Firstly, instead of a paint brush and paint, I use the collage of newspaper and magazine bits as my paint.”

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The animals he duplicates are selected to show off their unique breed, size, shape or type of hair.

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When art evolves to defy the boundaries of
language, it translates into not something
that the artist sees but what he makes
the world see. It uplifts itself into a visual
conversation that keeps one engaged. As an
artist, Will chooses sculpture over paintings
to communicate his arty vision. He explains,
“I just have this affinity for sculptures. I
can see things three dimensionally. I like
seeing things all the way around. I like to
create objects that are based on realism and
sculpture has a sense of realism.”
All of Will’s pieces are created using
newspaper and magazine cutouts. He
uses newspaper as a medium of choice
as it gives a raw, imperfect ephemeral
quality that reminds us that we are only
here on Earth for a short while. His pieces
are a perfect composition of colour
and newsprint.
He shares, “Firstly, instead of painting, I
create a collage and then use it as paint.
I have an idea about the colour scheme
and it’s just so funny, that I merely have to
see a picture in a magazine or newspaper
and I know what I am going to do with
it; it is almost accidental but it fits in
amazingly in the sculpture.” With the world
steering towards recyclable materials, Will’s
passionate use of old newspapers and
magazines to form art is a great initiative.
Looking at ten years from now, Will shares,
“I don’t know if I’ll be doing this but
whatever I do will be based on reality and
observation. I would want to be able to do
small shows around the world as I really
want to make enough work to be able to
go to different places.”
His advice to upcoming artists is that,
“Never try to make anything that you think
will sell. Don’t discount ideas as these are
coming from somewhere. Just look inside
and find out what matters the most to you
and turn that into art – I like people and
animals and I make just these. To do what
you love and get paid for it? My God, how
wonderful is that!”
will.kurtz@gmail.com
www.willkurtz.com
The sculptures have a collage of words and colourful advertising that is applied in a spontaneously
painterly fashion to reflect the mood of the subject.