Pogo

Interview for @Artgage

2011-11-28T15:34:00.002-05:00

From the Street to Your Wall: Quick and Dirty with Kevin “Pogo” Curtis

Sometimes my interviews are long, sometimes not so much. In the interest of time, and since his show is already hanging (at the Comet bar in Northside thru November 9), this one shall be, rather appropriately, quick and dirty.

Meet Kevin “Pogo” Curtis, who takes his inspiration from the street (not to mention, his materials) and applies them to his work. Watch for his paintings locally, and see if they don’t grow on you. –Lisa

Q. First off, I have to ask where the name “Pogo” comes from.

A. I’ve actually been called that since before I was born. My parents, my mother pregnant with me, were visiting relatives in Louisville, and after dinner got into a

discussion which soon turned into an argument over what to name “it.” My grandfather, stood up and said something to the effect of “oh what the hell, let’s just call it ‘Pogo’!” after the
comic strip “‘possum.” Apparently, this stuck with my older sister, and some weeks later, on a trip to Mammoth Cave, during a long climb up some stairs, asked my mom “How’s ‘Pogo’ doing?” and it somehow just stuck.

Q. When did you start making art?

No. 1 (acrylic, spray paint & ink on found board, 30x24), by Kevin "Pogo" Curtis

A. As soon as I could hold a crayon in my sticky, little-kid hand.

Q. What makes you decide to paint something?

A. I went to school in Dayton for photography and I was always so bored with what everyone else was shooting, that’s when I really got into “urban exploration”, I was determined to get those shots that no one else was going to get, and from there I got into “street art.”

When the digital revolution came along, I quickly got burnt out on photography…seems everyone is a freakin’ “photographer” these days. No disrespect to digital artists, but my definition of “fine art” is something that is one-of-a-kind and hand made. Not having regular access to a darkroom anymore, I started painting again in 2008.

Now to actually answer the question – I still drive around and explore a lot, and take “mental snapshots” of what I see – the places I depict are never supposed to be specific, but are definitely inspired by real places, mainly in and around Cincinnati. I’m especially drawn to the hills and the communication towers, retaining walls and city steps. I like the dirty parts of town and try to extract the beauty that’s hidden there.

Q.What materials do you rely on?

Shark (spray paint & ink on found board 171/4x44), by Kevin "Pogo" Curtis

A. My favorite time to go art supply shopping is on trash night. I can usually find broken furniture, cabinet doors, interior doors, shelf boards, table tops, etc. I also get a lot of stuff from Building Value, The Habitat for Humanity Re-Store and sometimes even the broken stuff section at IKEA.

I use mostly acrylics and spray paint, but also handed-down house paint, markers and one of my favorite items – the white-out pen. I’ve also been experimenting lately with making my own inks. Oh, and Mod Podge – I use a ton of it. Unless you see some of my stuff in person, you don’t realize that the foreground images are often done on paper, then cut out with an X-acto knife and then Mod-Podged onto the backgrounds.

No. 3 (acrylic, oil, spray paint, ink, whiteout pen and paper cutout on found board, 35x26) by Kevin "Pogo" Curtis

Q. Any artists or resources that you find inspiring and why?

A. Historically, I’ve always liked all that stuffy “classical” art. Which is why I like the surrealists, especially Dali, Magritte and Man Ray. I never really cared much for the other so-called “modern art.” I think most of it is bullshit. I am and always have been a big fan of “street art” going back to the New York subway car graffiti writers, and the people from the roots of
that movement, like Fab Five Freddie, Jean-Michele Basquiat, Lee & others.

Currently I really dig Sabre and David Choe, and really I’m kind of excited about how big the “Street Art” thing has gotten. It’s nice to see more people taking chances and bucking the system.

Q. Name some of your favorite projects you’ve done.

A. I hate everything I make. Just kidding, sort of. I always think I can do better, sometimes I fuck up a perfectly good piece by trying to out-do myself. I figure I fi don’t keep pushing myself, why bother? Other than that, I really like being a part of group shows.

One of the most awesome and fun things I’ve done was the “BARtists” live art event last spring at Mainstay, I was pretty bummed I couldn’t do the latest one they had, but I’m really looking forward to doing the next one and more things like that. I have some crazy techniques, and make a hell of a mess when I make art, so I figure I might be at least somewhat entertaining to watch.

Q. Do you have any upcoming shows?

A. Whew…yeah, I am just finishing a piece for Fabricate’s two-year anniversary group show, and I already have several shows either booked or awaiting confirmation for 2012 at Melt, Park + Vine, MOTR Pub and Sidewinder Coffee.

Q. Anything you’re hoping to try/experiment with in your art?

A. I’ve been experimenting with making my own ink, and I’m always messing around with new techniques. I like to mix stuff together that isn’t supposed to mix together, lots of oil vs. water stuff, my art is usually some percentage of mad science…mwuahahah. Also, I’ve been thinking about going three-dimensional. I’m hoping to find a larger studio space in the near future so I can start doing some larger works.

[Thanks to Kevin, and to you, for reading!--Lisa]

over the fence

2011-07-18T01:33:00.004-04:00

Most people tend to stick to the beaten path, take the quickest route from point A to point B, and strictly obey the signs warning them against entering forbidden zones. Of course, there are a few people out there who have almost a compulsion to find out what lies on the other side of that fence, under that railroad trestle or inside that abandoned factory.

Perhaps it is that same spirit that has always driven the human race to explore and quest to find out "what's over there?"

Since the earth has pretty well been mapped and trampled upon by humankind over generations, and space travel is possible only for a privileged few, we turn to the re-discovery of places and things time and it's keepers have forgotten.

Artist's Statement for Exhibition @ MOTR Pub, Cincinnati Ohio Feb 25 - Mar 22 2011

2011-02-24T12:58:00.002-05:00

I’ve been doing this since I was old enough to hold a brush. My Grandpa used to come get me out of church and take me for walks on the railroad tracks that ran behind the the factories and scrap yards of the steel town where I grew up. Sometimes we’d walk down by the old canal locks or go throw rocks in the water down by the dam. Other times he would take me on his “rounds” – he played the horses and some numbers games at several lodges and dive bars around town.

I moved to Cincinnati, a city which i had always loved, in early 2007. She is my muse, especially the dirty parts. I travel the back streets of town to reach my destination, and she never fails to inspire me. And while some of these pieces are indeed inspired by specific locations, they are not necessarily any location in particular.

don't be square

2011-01-10T13:04:00.005-05:00

so, the wood itself wasn't inherently bad, it was the dimensions. i have come to realize that my best work happens on pieces with long x narrow dimensions. it doesn't matter if it's vertical or horizontal, but i like the constrains of it which force me to either compress or expand the "camera" angle, if you will.

and as i look around this pile of works that are all over my house, i see that all of the ones i like the least are on dimensions that are closer to square.

the painting in this post was done on the same board shown in the previous post - i just cut it in half and i was free!

bad wood?

2011-01-07T10:57:00.003-05:00

i am beginning to believe that some pieces of wood have some negative energy stored in them and no matter how hard i try, i just can't coax anything out of them.

while some pieces have something beautiful inside that i just have to find and bring to the surface, some are just dead inside, or resistant and refuse to let themselves shine.

this piece pictured here, which i just whitewashed again, has been particularly difficult. perhaps it's the dimensions - i generally prefer longer, narrower substrates. maybe i will cut it in half and see if that helps. if not, i guess it's gonna go back in the trash where i found it...

2011

2011-01-01T16:10:00.003-05:00

this year is going to be good. i can feel it. 2 art shows booked already, possibly a third and perhaps several pieces in group shows. caught up in the pull between making money doing what you love to do, but not really caring about the money. it's a vicious cycle, the money. and i don't really care for the "money" end of the art world either - the openings, the closings, the schmoozing with the "art" crowd. i fucking hate it all, really. i'm more happy with the fact that someone would want to take something i made with my own hands and hang it in their space.

2011 will be the year of making happiness and infecting (or affecting) the world with it. understanding more of how things are made and how they work and how to fix them. (gearing up to survive 2012?) heal old wounds and work not to inflict new ones. try to do something every day to make the world a little bit better - spread the happiness and love
far out and groovy, right? whatever - it's a sane way to live.

no photo

2010-09-21T15:20:00.003-04:00

if they ever invent some system that uses your actual eyes for a camera and somehow stores images on an SD card implant in your brain or something like that, i'll be the first to volunteer...the things you miss, no matter how fast on the draw you are with your camera, there are 100 things a day that pass by un-shot.

<--- this was my attempt at photographing the squirrel in the windowsill of my studio...

maps, directions

2010-09-16T14:29:00.004-04:00

a crude map found in the back of a desk drawer...directions to someone's house, hastily jotted down, ink smudged. on the back is part of a cartoon king, in red ink. part of a tire advertisement , perhaps? there are three pin-holes...indicating it was hung up and taken down from a bulletin board or a wall at least a few times, and the bottom left-hand corner is stained with what i assume is coffee...

the ugly part of fall...

2010-09-10T14:57:00.003-04:00

dear mr./ms. politician,

you want my vote? well, it may help if you stop sending me all this crap in the mail, or hanging from my doorknob. every single day, i get another armload of junk that nobody ever reads - it goes straight in the bin. and stop cluttering up the landscape with your crappy, artless signs - fall is supposed to be the prettiest time of year, but instead, i have to look at all of your shitty signs everywhere i turn. you are generating TONS litter, both physically and visually.

x2

2010-08-26T14:30:00.003-04:00

i sometimes lay the piece down on the floor to look at it, and then i start walking around it, then i will walk on the piece itself. then my feet turn purple, or green or whatever.

time is still a luxury. i really wanted to finish another one this afternoon, but it looks like i won't have time before work. maybe i should hire a stunt double to handle certain tasks . a midget one...do you think anyone would notice if i had a midget stunt double? they'd be all like "hey man, does he look shorter than usual today?" "nah, he's always been that short..."

then i could spend my days breathing paint fumes or riding my bike

statement...

2010-08-14T17:04:00.002-04:00

it may look like chaos, but every single fucking drop, splotch, scrape, splash and slash is there by design. my heart and soul go fully into each piece, along with sweat, blood and even some tears. i destroy all of my brushes, so i never buy nice ones and i use mostly whatever kind of material i can find - i despise paying for art supplies - especially canvas. thursday trash night is when i do most of my shopping. building value is a great source for materiel as well.

the filth of the city is one of my muses and i am obsessed with her dirty little secrets as well as her crumbling infrastructure. on the other hand, i love nature - especially when nature reclaims what man has wrought - trees growing through the cracks in the concrete of an abandoned reservoir, a hawk's nest in a burned-out church steeple or a root pushing a sidewalk out of place.

hecho en Mexico

2010-08-13T13:33:00.004-04:00

i love the fact that both of my places of employment have mexican coca cola.

i can't even drink the high-fructose corn syrup laden american crap in the crappy plastic bottles anymore.

you'd think that the coca cola corporation would get a clue and go back to making their product the best it can be, but i suppose that will never happen because most americans are programmed sheep who will swallow whatever is spoon-fed to them by the giant corporations that run this country.

i could rant on and on about this, but you'll never get it unless you try one and taste the difference. it's well worth the 25 - 50 cents more you'll pay for the pleasure...

moonage daydream....

2010-08-08T13:06:00.004-04:00

i can't recall the last time i noticed the moon. I go to work before it comes out and don't get off until it's gone. finding the time to make this stuff is becoming difficult. I miss my mornings - i feel like i do my best work in the morning. perhaps there's some connection there with all the saturday morning kid's art things i went to beginning when i was like 3 or 4 years old...

it's probably just the heat and the spray can fumes...

2010-07-14T16:32:00.004-04:00

i wonder what it would be like to have just one whole day a week where i don't have to be somewhere or do something at some certain time? grind, grind, grind...be here, do this, do that...i just want to stay in my studio and paint some days, but i always have to stop what i'm doing and go do stuff like work, etc... or better yet, be one of those fucking rich artist types who don't actually have to go sweat in some kitchen every day so you can afford the crap you need to make more art that you can't afford to properly market so it sells and you can maintain your artsy-fartsy lifestyle...

or maybe i just want to go ride my bike or hang out on the stoop...whatever. I don't have time for me anymore...my sleep patterns are completely fucked up too - i haven't been to bed earlier than 4:30 for two weeks now, but still have to get up early and do shit. some days i run on two hours of sleep and a pop-tart.
.

i'd take a nap right now, but i have to be somewhere.

it's raining sideways

2010-06-21T11:31:00.002-04:00

five minutes ago, it was raining at the city steps at glen parker, but not at my house just a few houses down from there. heh..."city steps", one of those weird localisms. like "viaduct", "the lateral", "the lockland split" and "sled-riding" (everybody else calls it "sledding").

2010-06-06T17:48:00.003-04:00

saw a guy with a hand-stenciled t-shirt yesterday that read: "quit work - make art"...i fucking wish. because unless you're independently wealthy, or some well-connected bullshit artist, then you're pretty much fucked.

still, i keep trying. i paid $15 for a "booth" (a ten foot by ten foot patch of grass). spent at least $150 on various materials in preparation, not to mention my precious time investment, (which can't be counted in dollars). i sold a $25 painting and two $3 magnets for a day's gross sales of $31. that tallies to a loss of $119.

but hey, i got a lot of compliments. :)

2010-06-02T15:46:00.004-04:00

i'm trying to make a bunch of small "sellable" things for this art sale this weekend, and i'm just not very good at it. i really just don't like "forcing" my art...i just let it happen (works with soup, too). this is why i flunked out of design school twice - not because I can't do it, i just won't. and i hate deadlines and such, or having to do certain things at certain times. like, why can't they pick up my trash when I want them too? why do i have to remember to take out my trash on thursday night...usually after drinking?

ANYWAY - I'm just saying I don't like time constraints or expectations for my work. it's mine.

mine.

welcome to amatuer hour

2010-06-01T20:37:00.003-04:00

..yeah, just realizing that i should get myself a real website. fuck, i hate the bullshit and business side of the art thing...

this one dedicated to the painted over shepard fairey murals around cincy.
(c) 2010

acrylic & collage on found commercial print

48" x 19"

i want the earth to slow down it's rotation so that there will be more hours in the day (plus we'd all weigh a lot less)

2010-05-26T19:18:00.005-04:00

-+=\-8907654321wq*/1qw3e4r5t612341234567890-=[p-o0987yuiop[]\p[;uyhtfrsewadfgh;'/
?,. sxdcgvbjmnkbv mk,;lkjnbhgvbhnmkjgvfcdfgyhjk78909i63w27890p-oujhytgfcdxch

^never mind all of that above stuff...I was just cleaning my keyboard - a spur of the moment OCD thing...i do these things.

what happens when that thing you do becomes more than just something you do...when it becomes a necessity rather than a preference? when it becomes all i want to do, and fuck a bunch of jobs and people and places and things? some days i feel less like this than others, but i'm always thinking that I should be painting. unfortunately the production requires consumption which requires an income, and since i can't rely solely on the income from what i do, i have to do other stuff. it's a sick cycle; consume-produce-consume-produce...and hopefully once in a while SELL something. it's nice to sell stuff, but not really for the money - i could give a fuck about how much money i get for a piece, but the fact that somebody wants to hang my shit on their wall means infinitely more, but I'm not stupid and I ain't givin' it away either. well, that's all the time I have for this thing - i have work to do!

does the rollercoaster ever just ride along for a while on a high plane?

2010-02-20T13:57:00.006-05:00

...or does it always have to come back down? the inevitability of the eventual descent always keeps us on our toes, i suppose. the higher you get, the farther you fall, so i try not to let it go as high as the last high point, because the ride went all the way through hell, so i can't even imagine how bad it gets beyond hell. oh well, enjoy the ride and hope it slows to a crawl, so the next downhill adventure is a long way in the future....

Thanks, Hamilton County

2010-01-25T14:31:00.002-05:00

Well, January 11 came, and I still never really got my "day in court", thanks to Anthony Kirkland and a bloated, nearsighted county justice system. As for the final results of this mess...well, it's not what we had hoped for, but at least it is over with. Basically, I had to take a plea deal, as the judge in my case had drawn a big high-profile case and they were trying to clear his docket. If I hadn't taken the deal, the case would have been continued until April 27, and I would have had to remain on electronic monitoring. So, in the interest to getting back to as normal a life as possible, I copped to a misdemeanor, resulting in a sentence of 1 -2 years of "community control" (probation), and restitution + costs. It sucks, but it is what it is, and though standing up there and entering a guilty plea to this nonsense was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, I felt it was the best choice for me, since the house arrest was far more restrictive than probation - four more months on it would have bankrupted me, because I couldn't work any more than my scheduled hours, and had little free time to go look for secondary employment. All of this, of course has destroyed any faith I had in our justice system, and feel like I have been put through a ringer, but given my lack of resources, and having to use a public defender (who really did the best he could), I guess thing could have been worse.

P.S.
Boycott Portofino - that guy is a complete asshole.

oh-nine

2010-01-01T12:04:00.002-05:00

well...let's see. 2009.

well, i spent the first three months homeless and on the lam. then i got an apartment and was still on the lam, but i was working 50-60 hours a week. then i went to jail for 46 days. then i got out but was placed on (and still on) EMD (ankle bracelet), as a result, i can only work my scheduled hours, so i make about 40% less than before, and have been struggling financially as well. i suppose with all that i could say the year pretty much sucked.

on the other hand....through everything shitty that happened, i found that i have the most amazing, awesome friends that anyone could ask for, even my "casual acquaintances" are awesome. because of you folks, i have been able to maintain a positive attitude through all of this, and live as fully as possible, despite everything. I have also made some great new friends this year.

i moved into a great place, probably the most awesome place i've ever had, with the best roomate i've ever had. I went back to my job at The Hideaway - as a full time guy, rather than just a few nights a week guy, where i get to be as creative as i want, and make really awesome food.

2009 has also been my most productive year artistically, ever. by my count, i have completed some 30 paintings. had a show where i sold several, and have sold a few others, including the largest, priciest piece i have ever sold.

and the bengals are actually good this year. and the bearcats.

I'm not going to play this one in a minor key...

animals and friends

2009-12-24T13:42:00.004-05:00

sucks not being able to go home for the holidays, but i have amazing people in my life, who keep me company, and a yard full of wildlife...."it's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how i keep from goin' under uh-huh-huh-huh"

and of course the wiener dog. she's always there. every morning, waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me, doing her little happy dance, then it's a good 5 minutes of belly rubbin' before i am allowed to make my coffee...

"untitled"

2009-12-08T14:39:00.005-05:00

i have a hard time titling things...paintings, photographs, somgs, etc... i don't call myself "Mr." i have no job title, i simply do what i do. perhaps it is connected to my disdain for categorizing things, and the way my life seems to be in constant disorder.

up the down escalator without a paddle

2009-10-19T19:59:00.004-04:00

for every foot of forward progress, seems there's something or someone trying to drag you backward 10 yards. just have to dig in, keep fighting and keep producing...

try as they might...

2009-09-30T14:38:00.004-04:00

they think they can bring me down, break me. I'm not gonna let their negative energy change me - i'll keep doing what i'm doing and being who i am - i am in control of my mind and that suits me fine.

ok, so I was gonna write a whole thing about jail....

2009-09-08T15:09:00.004-04:00

...but i decided to hell with it. let's just say if fucking sucked. and i was there 46 days. what else is there to say?

i'm still on emd ( house arrest, but i do get to go to work ), so I have lots of time to paint:

(c) 2009
acrylic, spray paint, colored pencil, ink & paper of found board
16" x 20"

emd

2009-09-02T15:35:00.003-04:00

being stuck in the house for days on end proves productive...

movies

2009-05-19T19:49:00.004-04:00

I watch movies. I like movies. There are movies that I absolutely love. But I am really not that into movies. I really don't give a shit about who directed what, or who this was executive produced by, or every other movie the guy who is in the movie we're watching right now has been in, ever.

You know "that guy" (everyone does) who must have seen like, every movie ever made? Seriously, dude, what else do you do? ever? when do you work? or perhaps you never sleep? wait, fuck are you a vampire ??? you're say, 25 years old and by my estimation based on my limited conversations with you (which are always about movies) you must watch at least 2 movies a day. (not to mention the countless hours you spend watching tv, but that's another rant..
ANYWAY - let's be all scientific like and say, on average, you watch 2.3 movies per day - that's 839.5 per year, which factoring in all the Disney crap your lazy parents force-fed you when you were barely cognizant, comes out to 20987.5 in your lifetime...and you're only 25!!! Imagine what the tally will be when you're 75??? Let's find out, shall we?
If we consider that when you retire at say, age 62 your MPD (movies per day) average will likely increase to at least a 3.1 ( you try to stay up and take in that fourth one, but dude, you're old now, and doze off ten minutes in)...according to my trusty calculator - that comes out to 116,033.5 movies.
What if you had made a dollar for every hour you've spent watching movies? Let's call the average movie length around 2 hrs. and 15 min. - multiplied by the number of films (116,033) and you would have $261,075.37. Not exactly a million dollars or anything, but you could probably afford a late-model Bentley and perhaps a top-hat.
Now for all the money you have spent on all these movies. Even if you have watched half of them for free, you've still probably spent a staggering amount of cash on the other half.
Figuring on a modest $10 average ( tickets, rental fees, etc..) that total comes out to $580,167.50 !!!
There's not much else I can say about movies....

Oh, yeah...

Fuck Nicholas Cage.

how does this guy keep getting work?

seriously.

what a tool.

$2

2009-04-27T20:56:00.002-04:00

found a Canadian $2 bill in the pocket of a pair of jeans that I purchased today at a thrift store. God save the Queen! that's $1.64545 U.S. dollars. go economy! must have been Canadian jeans as well, because though the tag reads my "size" I still had to cut about 1.64545" off of the legs.
stupid Canada. what can I do for yah?

so where is the line?

2009-03-16T13:23:00.002-04:00

first, let me preface here a bit; this is not a rant about "getting older" or whatever, I'm just bitching about the radio again...

what exactly does "classic rock mean?" when does what was once called "modern rock" or "alternative" become "classic rock". because it somehow just seems wrong to lump The Clash in with Bob Seger and Foghat. I dunno, to me, "classic rock" always meant Led Zeppelin, The Stones, Mountain, etc...
since punk was fueled by the disdain for the bloated arena-rock of the 70's, how now is it ok to play some of those bands on the mega-corporate classic rock station? Not to mention the fact, that the people who liked that stuff in the 80's beat the crap out of people who liked the "new music". what, does the pimply-faced burnout flunky who wore the same fucking pit-stained Iron Maiden t-shirt every day who fucked with me every single day because of the music I liked now suddenly enjoy The Police's "King of Pain"?
I don't want to limit this discussion by excluding the shit I never liked anyway, but I still don't consider "classic rock" - I'm talking about the 80's hair-metal fluff, like Poison, Ratt and Motley Crue. it makes a little more sense that they play that stuff though, since most of the white trash at my school got really into that garbage, but had the balls to call me a fag because of the music I listened to...
I mean you be the judge -
Cinderella vs. Black Flag

I don't even have to really say anything else, huh?
well, I really derailed mysef there, but yeah.
so is it a time thing or what? and who decides what becomes "classic rock?" is it bands that still somehow seem relevant? On my local classic rock station they're suddenly playing alot of U2, REM, Billy Idol, The Police, etc...y'know, all those ones that somehow crossed the line from "alternative" to "mainstream"...I just wonder if "Ricky Steele"* kicks his own ass every time those songs come on...nah, he's probably too busy crying in the shower and mastrubating to care about music anymore.

*Ricky Steele is a composite charachter of the ultimate Middletown white-trash hell yeahs: Mullet, trash-stache, Camaro, thinks Eddie Van Halen is the greatest guitar player ever, etc...

this road

2009-02-16T16:31:00.002-05:00

it twists and turns like a switchback on a mountainside. I can't decide whether I'm headed up or down though, maybe the road is more like a scribble pattern on a flat plane.