PROFILE
I am an American artist most known for the invention of interactive 3D pavement art illusions. My work also includes large-scale oil paintings, ceramic murals, sculptures, decorations, 3D installations, and architectural designs for public and private clients in more than 30 countries. I am trained in drawing, painting, sculpture, and architectural design within the Western European Classical tradition, and have made an extensive study of sacred geometry. In addition to creating educational materials I also give lectures and demonstrations with my most recent talk being Recreating Creativity: A New Approach to Imagination, Creativity & Innovation.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE & PUBLIC LECTURES (a-z, partial list)
The Kennedy Center
Awarded The Kennedy Center Medallion in recognition for outstanding contribution to arts education.
~~~~~
Art Center College of Design
Lectured on what it means to have mastery in the arts for the Toyota lecture series.
Carnegie Art Museum
Lectured on my personal experience of learning the lost language of classicism in Italy.
Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS)
Taught an intensive weeklong drawing workshop for exceptional students selected from U.S. Department of Defense schools around the globe.
Received the Golden Palette Award for remarkable service, which spanned a decade.
Music Center of Los Angeles
Developed a 2-day school residency art program working in conjunction with the Music Center’s Education Department. The program was available to schools throughout the United States.
Taught drawing with pastels to more than 100,000 students from elementary school through university level over the course of a decade.
National Museum of Singapore
Lectured on perspective and illusion.
Rhode Island School of Design
Lectured on my career and global experiences.
Ringling College of Art and Design
Gave a talk on classicism and architectural design.
San Juan Island Museum of Art
The Lost Language of Classical Design was given over two afternoons to a sold out audience. Live feed was set-up so I could draw alongside projected drawings by Caravaggio and other Renaissance artists and explain as I drew how they created the works.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Lectured on the history of pavement art.
Tennessee Arts Commission
The talk, Recreating Creativity, was given for Create 2012: Creativity in Education conference.
The National Gallery of Art
Conducted a series of public lectures and was the keynote speaker for a 3- day symposium on Old Master drawings from Woodner and Chatsworth collections. Live feed was set-up allowing me to draw alongside projected images from the collections on exhibit and explain as I drew how the artists created the works.
Repeatedly invited to lecture on art and innovative uses of perspective for the Gallery’s curators, lecturers, and docents.
The Smithsonian Institution
Lead a series of public lectures and courses titled Master Drawing; Perspective and Illusion, and The Complete Pastel.
Lectured for the Smithsonian’s Art and Culture of Italy Program and lead groups through Italy.
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Taught numerous professional development seminars for over ten years to Disney’s top feature animation artists in figure drawing, perspective, oil painting, and the use of pastels.
Walt Disney Imagineering
Conducted professional development seminars for Disney’s top engineers for more than a decade on unusual uses of perspective.
Conducted seminars and consulted with engineers to better employ illusions and perspective effects when constructing rides and shows.
Warner Bros. Studios
Assisted in the start-up of the new Feature Animation division by conducting artist’s training workshops, developing a color palette, and consulting on visual development and story proposals.
-
COMMISSIONED ART
(a-z, partial list)
- Absolut Vodka
- Commissioned to create an image for Absolut Vodka’s famous artist ad series.
- Center West
- Designed and executed an 18’ x 18’ landscape oil mural in the heart of Westwood, California for a high rise building on Wilshire Boulevard known as Center West. The mural has been seen in the television film Double Edge and the feature length film Sneakers.
- Champion (sportswear)
- Designed and executed 3D artwork for an Italian print ad campaign featuring live sports figures.
- Disneyland Paris
- Designed a Main Street Parade based on Greek mythology.
- Formula 1 & Grand Prix
- Designed an interactive artwork for both the Bahrain Grand Prix and Honda F1 racing. The Honda image featured the top driver Jenson Button.
- Good Morning America
- Created artwork for the 100th Anniversary of Times Square and was invited to appear again on this leading morning news program.
- Greenpeace
- Designed and executed a 4,100 square foot mural used by the European Citizens’ Initiative to invoke, for the first time ever in history, their rights under the EU Lisbon Treaty. One million signatures were collected to petition for the end of GMO crops within the European Union.
- Hong Kong Disneyland
- Created three sculptures, a kirin, a phoenix, and a carp, that united to form the image of a sea dragon when seen from a particular viewpoint.Designed a permanent anamorphic illusion in mosaic.
- Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- More than 250,000 people lined up to see a single work in during a 5-day period. The sponsor’s Internet site received more than three million hits.
- Knorr Soup
- Created an illusionistic artwork for Canadian in-store ad campaign. The image was installed in more than 2,000 stores nationwide.
- National Geographic Visitor’s Center at the Grand Canyon
- Designed and executed an interactive artwork to be displayed at the visitor center to promote the beauty of the canyon and encourage the public to explore it.
- Pope John Paul II
- Commissioned to design and oversee the creation of a work of art for the official schedule of events which celebrated Pope John Paul II’s arrival to Mantua in Northern Italy. The Pope signed the mural based on the Last Judgment.
- Saint George Church
- The 17th century church, located at Lago di Como, Italy had never had its ceiling painted. By creating more than 20 original oil murals and completing the ceiling with decorative paintings in between them, for a total of 6,000 square feet, the church was finally completed.
- Tokyo Disney Resort
- Designed and executed a floor to ceiling illusion room that allows the pulic to interact with the painted image, The Last Days of Pompeii, while others view them through a specially ground lens produced by the makers of the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA.
- Villa Zeffiro
- Designed and executed more than 3,000 square feet of oil paintings, decorative plaster, and architectural details throughout the residence Villa Zeffiro in Santa Barbara, which is modeled after Palladio’s Villa Barbaro. The residence was featured in Architectural Digest.
- Washington State Lottery
- Three images were made to advertise a travel contest: Wall of China, Great Barrier Reef, and Egyptian Tomb. The art was produced as large stickers and installed in 850 stores statewide.
DOCUMENTARIES
- Japan’s Bacademy
- Fuji Television celebrated the 7th anniversary of its immensely popular show “Bacademy” with a 2-hour special that was seen by more than 12 million viewers. The special edition included a feature of my artwork at Jack Gallery in Las Vegas.
- Menschen und Strassen
- Featured artist in the 45-minute Swiss-German Television (SWS) documentary filmed in Italy.
- National Geographic
- Was the featured artist in National Geographic’s documentary, Masterpieces In Chalk. The film won the Blue Ribbon award at the American Film and Video Festival; Chris Statuette Award at the Columbus International Film; Golden Award at INTERCOM Film Festival; and the Silver Award at the CINDY competition.
ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONED PROJECTS
(a-z, partial)
Designed interactive works of art, illusions, graphic designs and featured artwork for and/or in collaboration with the following organizations:
Acqua Panna
Architectural Digest
Art Center College of Design
Bahrain Grand Prix
Bank of America
Beazley
Belmont Forum
Big Lottery Fund
BMW
Breeders’ Cup
Browning Ferris Industries
British Airways
British Columbia Board of
Tourism
Buick
Cadillac
Canada Board of Tourism
Celebrity Cruises
Chancellor University
Comic-Con
Comparethemarket.com
Cox Communications
Dunkin Donuts
E 3
EuroStar
Exxon
Festival Cervantino
Fuji Television
General Mills
General Motors
Gillette
Save Venice, Inc.
Schick
Shanghai Xin Tian Di
Sky Television
Sky H.D.
Sony Pictures
Sonly PlayStation
The Kennedy Center
The National Gallery of Art
The Smithsonian Institution
The Walt Disney Studios
Timberland
Toyota
United States University
Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Studios Japan
Vestel
Visa
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Brothers
Xanadu Commercial Center
Xbox
2K Games
3M
Hampton Inn
Hewlett-Packard
Honda Formula 1
Houston Museum of Art
Huis Ten Bosch
IMAGINiT Technologies
IMAX
Jacob’s Creek
Kraft
Lexus
Lincoln Motors
Madison Square Garden
McDonald’s
Microsoft
Music Center of Los Angeles
National Geographic
Nat’l Museum of Singapore
Nescafé
New York Jets
Nike
Orange Telecommunications
Panasonic
Paramount Pictures
Pepperdine University
Pinger
PlayStation
Pope John Paul II
Procter & Gamble
The Rockettes
Rhode Island School of Design
Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
BOOKS (partial list)
Kurt Wenner, Asphalt Renaissance, The Pavement Art and 3-D Illusions of Kurt Wenner. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2011.
~~~~~
Céline Delavaux, The Museum of Illusions. Olo Editions, 2013.
Brad Honeycutt, Sidewalk Chalk Art. Arturus Publishing Limited, 2012.
Julie Kirk, Sidewalk Canvas. Fox Chapel Publishing, 2011.
Birgit Krols, 3D Street Art. Tectum Publishing, 2011.
Jeremy M. Wolfe, Sensation & Perception, Third Edition. Sinauer Associates Inc., 2011.
Jeffrey S. Nevid, Essentials of Psychology: Concepts and Applications. Wadsworth Publishing, Third Edition, 2011.
Kiriakos Iosifidis, Mural Art, Murals on Huge Public Surfaces Around the World, Vol. 3. Greece: Publikat, 2010.
Jane Bingham, Illusion Art. Heinemann-Raintree, 2007.
Douglas A. Bernstein, Psychology. Wadsworth Publishing, 2007.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Planet Eccentric!, Ripley Entertainment, 2005.
Donald Preziosi, Rethinking Art History: Meditations on a Coy Science. Yale University Press, 1991.
BOOKS IN PROGRESS
Kurt Wenner, The Divine Perspective.
Based on artist’s geometry that covers its sacred origins through contemporary times.
Kurt Wenner, The Mastery of Form.
An illustrated book that demonstrates the evolution of drawing in Western art.
GALLERY & MUSEUM WORK
- Dolores Hidalgo Museum
- Created the image Milagro for the Festival Internacional Cervantino in Guanajuato, Mexico. Other invited performing artists were Philip Glass and Momix theatre.
- Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, California
- A combined inaugural exhibit of my artwork and Wayne Thiebaud’s was held to celebrate the opening of the museum.
- Jack Gallery
- Gallery work was represented Jack Gallery along the Grand Canal at the Venetian Shops in Las Vegas until the recent death of its owner Jack Solomon in August 2012, at which time the gallery was closed.
- Museum Catharijnconvent
- An image depicting Saint Willibrord, the first Bishop of Utrecht, was placed on display.
- Ringling College of Art and Design
- One-man exhibition.
- San Juan Island Museum of Art
- One-man exhibition.
- The Kennedy Center
- A one-man show of drawings at the Center’s first ever exhibit of a visual artist.
LICENSING AGENT
- King Features Syndicate
- King Features represents some of the world’s most beloved characters, among them are Popeye the Sailor Man, Olive Oyl and Betty Boop. In recent years, the company expanded its portfolio to include a select few contemporary artists and asked me to join their roster.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
- Independent Study in Italy
- Studied and drew for several years in numerous art museums. Studied privately with Italian art restorers; the most influential was Luciano Maranzi. A wonderful highlight was touching the Sistine Ceiling and experiencing from close-up the enormity of Michelangelo’s figures.
- NASA- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Worked as an advanced space illustrator, creating conceptual paintings of planetary and solar landscapes according to data received by the Voyager spacecraft. Created cut-away views and perspective drawings of advanced spacecraft for future missions.
- Art Center College of Design
- Studied formal drawing and illustration. Most influential instructors: Harry Carmean and Vernon Wilson.
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Concentrated studies on illustration. Most influential instructor: David Macaulay.
- Santa Barbara City College
- Studied art and art history. Most influential instructor: Ken Nack.
- Santa Barbara High School
- General study of art. Most influential instructor: R. Anthony Askew.
-
MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS & BLOGS
(partial list, nearly 100,000 entries exist)USA
Artforum International
Architectural Digest
Huffington Post Arts
Juxtapoz
Los Angeles Magazine
Los Angeles Times
Montecito Magazine
MSNBC
Nat’l Geographic Traveler
New York Times
Rosebud
Santa Barbara Magazine
Scientific American
Scientific American MIND
The Hollywood Reporter
Vanity Fair
WORLD
Clase Premier, Mexico
Daily Mail, UK
Der Spiegel, Germany
Derniér Heure, Canada
El Tiempo, Columbia
Época, Spain
Fantasy Art, China
Focus, Italy
Geo, Italy
ImagineFX, England
JPeople, Germany
Jet Set Magazine, Croatia
La Repubblica, Italy
Le Scienza/Mente&Cervello, Italy
Luxury Magazine, Armenia
Luxury Magazine, Korea
Marie Claire, Czech Repub.
Pluna, Uruguay
Supperinteressante, Brazil
Taipei Times, Taiwan
Time Out, Singapore
Transaero Magazine, Russia
The Straits Times, Singapore
The Telegraph, UK
Toronto Star, Canada
Vancouver Sun, Canada
Zing, China
BLOGS
Agrinioart.gr
ArabianBusiness.com
BBC World Service
BusinessInsider.com
CNNgo.com
Evian-thesource.com
Figurativeartist.org
Opticalillusionworld.com
Shortlist.com
Sunriseartists.com
ViewfromthePier.com
Wooarts.com
Yahoo! Malaysia
Yahoo! Games