Curtis Woody
Born and raised in Newport News, Virginia, Curtis Woody showed a unique interest and extraordinary skill in drawing and painting at an early age and found many ways to include art in his formative years. He studied Commercial Art and earned an associate degree at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia. Past positions include being a technical illustrator with LTV Aerospace in Hampton, Virginia as well as a senior artist with Ruben Donnelly Corp in Washington DC. In 1983 Woody began his fine arts career as a full-time artist focusing on stipple drawings and later mixed media collage paintings.
For the past twenty years he has concentrated exclusively on mixed media collage paintings which reflect his diverse and constantly evolving interests. His creative pursuits are informed by a quest for discovering unusual things as well as his interest in historical documents. The honest candor with which he captures ordinary people remains the great strength of his interpretation of the world. Woody’s career is characterized by a continuing allegiance to his African American cultural heritage.
Woody’s works are in corporate, government, museum and private collections internationally and he has exhibited extensively in the United States. His name and work can be associated with art patrons such as Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer, Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, Madame Leah Tutu, wife of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and hundreds of art lovers across the county. He is a recipient of numerous awards including a grant won from Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council to create “A Struggle for Dignity, An Artistic Exploration of Slavery and Emancipation” exhibition at the Prince George’s County African American Museum and Cultural Center in North Brentwood, Maryland. Curtis is presently represented by Arts’tination of National Harbor, Maryland, Zenith Gallery, and Gallery Serengeti in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
Artist Statement:
“I am a mixed media collage painter, drawing inspiration from historical connection points that join individuals, families, generations, and communities. I create highly textured and intricately detailed original art pieces that are intended to breathe new life into and enhance the unique characteristics of a common historical heritage. To me, life is a circle and I take pleasure in salvaging the old to create something new, asking the viewer to recognize the past while appreciating the here and now.
My paintings are research-based collages and layers which are fabricated in a variety of ways. I highlight impactful images and also play close attention to minute details. Some paintings start with hand cut museum board blocks that are painted, embellished, scratched and merged together. I use an assortment of found objects, old books, aged photographs, buttons, letters, vintage newspapers and rusty metal combine with a variety of artistic mediums. The meaning of the attached elements often becomes clearer to me as they are assembled. The result is a continual search for balance between spontaneity and historical relevance. My richly layered work invites viewers to step in closer, explore details, and create or reflect on their own stories of connection. Because of the multi-layering it is my expectation that the paintings become thoughtful, spiritual, interesting, and sensitive creations. My career is characterized by a continuing allegiance to African American cultural heritage.”
