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Residents of Palmetto Bay will have a chance to see a number of oversized sculptures from artist Will Kurtz’s collection, “Doggy Bags,” which will be on display at village parks for the next three months.
The “Doggy Bags” exhibitions are located at: Coral Reef Park,
7895 SW 152 St.; Ludovici Park (Library), 17641 Old Cutler Rd., and Perrine Wayside “Dog” Park, 16425 S. Dixie Hwy.
Kurtz has had both solo and group shows in New York, Miami, Paris and Belgium. His works appear in many prominent collections around the world and he works and lives in New York City. His dog sculptures depict unique characteristics and personalities of different breeds and are made of recycled materials.
“’Gomer’ is a bull mastiff and ‘Stanley’ is a Bassett Hound; those are both at the library,” Kurtz said. “There’s a Vizsla named ‘Daphne’ at the park by the stone bridge, and a Chihuahua named ‘Spicy’ at the park near the tennis courts.”
He uses several techniques to create his striking and memorable sculptures.
“The indoor pieces I make are made out of newspaper and masking tape and glue and are usually on a wood armature,” he explained. “The dogs are made for the parks and those are made out of single use plastic bags, duct tape and fiberglass resin, and they’re on top of a steel armature. It’s called upcycling. I take materials that have been thrown away and reuse them for art.”
The dogs have travelled quite a bit. They were originally made for an outdoor exhibit in New York, then they made their way to Florida.
“I had some of the dogs in Aventura Mall at one of the Avant Galleries and someone from Palmetto Bay saw them and contacted me about putting them on display there,” Kurtz said.
“Next they’ll go to the Brickell area in Miami. I really enjoy showing art out in public because I like art that appeals to people who don’t even go to galleries and museums and are able to see art and appreciate it. I believe that art should be accessible to everybody.”
Kurtz’s work has been exhibited at Avant Gallery in other cities as well. Avant was launched in Miami Beach in 2007 by Dmitry Prut.
Born in Flint, MI, Kurtz received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University in 1981. He practiced as a landscape architect for 25 years, throughout the United States and Canada. Then in his mid thirties he began creating art as a self-taught artist. Eventually his passion for art superseded landscape architecture and he moved to New York at the age of 50 to attend graduate school at the New York Academy of Art.
