Primates and Confections

It’s an interesting endeavor, trying to interpret Craig Kucia’s painting “when i begin to forget, tell me things i never knew.” A good place to start searching for answers might be the giant, faceless orangutan eating chocolate chip cookies under the glittering flash of a disco ball. Or maybe truth lies in the pink parrot and large-billed macaw patiently waiting for the primate to drop a few crumbs?

Related Content

• Latin American Art Is Sizzling
  March 1, 2012
• Rags to Triumph
  February 16, 2012
• Rich? Art Trip to Art Basel!
  December 1, 2011
• Post-Basel Fix
  December 8, 2011
• Bunny Behind the Lens
  December 8, 2011

More About

• Cleveland (Ohio)
• London (England)
• Basel
• Wildlife
• Nature and the Environment

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Don’t be confused: Kucia’s not trying to be obscure, nor is he being wacky just for the hell of it. No, this Cleveland-born artist says he tries to keep his work intriguing and open-ended without being esoteric. That way, he says, his viewers come up with their own fantastic interpretations – even if his original meanings are rooted deep in reality. “I find it amazing how people connect to the paintings in ways that I hadn’t intended at all,” he explains from his Miami home. “There are often multiple ideas within one image, and their connection is sometimes more obvious than people think.”

Kucia, 31, started painting back in high school when he was a skateboard punk. After five years at the Cleveland Institute of Art, his enigmatic pieces – oil on canvas, with a photographic, montage-like edge – drew interest from the art community. He traveled to London and Miami to paint and ended up showing at Art Basel in 2003 and at Miami’s Kevin Bruk Gallery, but his pieces have always been a bit hard to track down – until now. His latest collection, “many sundays were spent talking of rockets,” brings years’ worth of work together at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood (1650 Harrison St., Hollywood). Admission ranges $3 to $6. Call 954-921-3274, or visit www.artandculturecenter.org.
Sept. 24-Dec. 16, 2007