Downtown, Los Angeles
Craig Kucia
Unnatural Disasters
IbidIbid Gallery is pleased to present Unnatural Disasters, a solo exhibition by artist Craig Kucia, curated by John Wolf. Craig Kucia’s practice is rooted in dichotomies; at once one can see Kucia’s Cleveland, Ohio upbringing and his art historical training. The synthesis of these two disparate worlds leads to single compositions simultaneously referencing 1980’s Americana skateboard culture, Philip Guston, and everything in between. Unnatural Disasters is also an investigation by Kucia into his life and artistic training in a pre-internet world, fused with the modern digital age and its imposed visual vernacular. This exhibition illustrates what scientist and eminent psychologist Carl R. Rogers stated in his understanding of humanity, “What is most personal is most universal.” Idiosyncratic combinations of cultures and eras distinct to the artist allow for a layered experience with the works through the individual lens of any viewer. Using a variety of techniques, Kucia creates paintings that often read as storied landscapes through the use of negative space. But, even the negative space references a specific wallpaper from his childhood or a Mondrian geometric work. It is not enough to take the standard 30 second painting viewing time for a work by Kucia as the intricate compositions are so layered in meaning, both intended by the artist, and injected by the viewer. He seeks to make the viewer slightly uncomfortable as they search their memories to identify how they know a particular image or movie subtly referenced in the painting. Craig Kucia was born 1975 in Cleveland, OH. He studied at the Edinburgh College of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Art (BFA 1999), and the Chelsea College of Arts, London. Solo exhibitions included Blum & Poe (with Aaron Noble), Los Angeles, CA; Kevin Bruk Gallery, Miami, FL; and Shaheen Gallery, Cleveland, OH. His work is held in public and private collections including the Progressive Art Collection, Cleveland, OH; Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; and the Mugrabi Family Collection. Kucia currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Unnatural Disasters is the artist’s first exhibition with Ibid Gallery.