Kurt Ralske (born 1967 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is an American visual artist and musician. He is the former singer and guitarist in

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Ultra Vivid Scene Ultra Vivid Scene was an American alternative rock band, started by Kurt Ralske. Background Former Nothing But Happiness and Crash guitarist Ralske started Ultra Vivid Scene in 1986,https://www.discogs.com/release/6488943-Ultra-Vivid-Scene-S ...

Biography

During the mid-eighties, Ralske was a guitarist in the bands Nothing But Happiness and Crash. In the late eighties and early-nineties he released three albums as

. After his last album under the Ultra Vivid Scene moniker, he produced, engineered, and performed on numerous albums for a variety of artists, including

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

, Rasputina, Charles Douglas and

Los Planetas Los Planetas (''The Planets'') is a Spanish indie rock group from the city of Granada which started out in the mid 1990s and continue now through the 2020s. The group's first hit was "Qué puedo hacer" (''What can I do?'') from their album "Supe ...

. In 1999 he self-released two albums on his ''miau-miau'' label, one under his own name ''Kyrie Eleison'' and the other ''<>'' as ''Cathars''. In 2001 he released another two albums, Kurt Ralske ''Amor. 0 + 01'', and as Cathars ''Early Bells and Voices''. The ''Amor. 0 + 01'' album featured several digital video clips. Since then he has focused on digital video. His video installations and performances are created exclusively with his own custom software and his work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Guggenheim Bilbao,

Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...

, and the

Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Ralske programmed and co-designed a 9-channel video installation that is permanently in the lobby of the MoMA in NYC. In 2007, he received a Rockefeller Foundation Media Arts Fellowship grant. In 2003, his work received First Prize at the Transmediale International Media Art Festival in Berlin, as a member of the video ensemble 242.pilots. He is also the author/programmer of Auvi, a video software environment. In 2007, Ralske completed the interactive video accompaniment for Mathew Rosenblum's RedDust Opera. Ralske is currently on the faculty of the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is a dedicated art school within Tufts University, a private research university in Mass ...

. He was formerly a Visiting Professor and Resident Artist at the Digital + Media Graduate Program of the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

, and was also a faculty member of the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

, in New York City, in the graduate program in Computer Art.

Discography

Crash

Ultra Vivid Scene

Kurt Ralske

* ''amor.0+01'' (Subrosa) *''kyrie eleison'' (Miau International)

Cathars

*''locale'' (Computer Music Journal) *''Early Bells + Voices'' (Atomic) *'''' (Miau International)

Kurt Ralske / Keith Fullerton Whitman

*''K+K'' (Reckankreuzung)

DVD releases

242.pilots

*''242.pilots live in Bruxelles'' (Carpark Records)

References

External links

* 1967 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists Artists from New York City 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts faculty Tufts University faculty {{US-guitarist-stub