Kurt Von Voetsch, “Stage Four,” September 22 – November 3, 2017

Exhibition Catalog, Kurt von Voetsch, Heather Layton, and Allen Topolski

Kurt Von Voetsch is an artist, educator, and museum professional. His current work is a cathartic exploration of his deep faith and his eight-year battle with brain cancer. For Von Voetsch, his artistic process makes the psychological processing of his illness visible. Both figurative and biomorphic forms are defined by lines that vibrate with a nearly religious fervor. Color and texture are applied equally frenetically. Even in the midst of recognizable images and text, something sinister lurks.

Von Voetsch admits to having spent most of his life with the fear of the dead. After his cancer diagnosis in 2009, he refined himself as well as his relationship with the dead. Much of this work charts that process. Although clearly sincere, his work is not sentimental. Using conventional means, he pieces together gestural drawings and confessional utterances, forming a visual monologue that is poignantly personal.

Kurt Von Voetsch holds an MFA from Ohio University and an MS in Student Administration from the University at Buffalo. His works and performances have been widely exhibited in Western New York and beyond, including at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Castellani Art Museum, UB Anderson Gallery, Hallwalls, Big Orbit, Chautauqua Institution, and Memorial Art Gallery/