Kerry Rutz is a man with a great many points of view. Demonstrative, expressive, opinionated, confrontational...at first glance his work appears direct: expressions not intended for the squeamish, but after watching the development of his work over the years, I believe that his real audience is himself...self portraits; through the experiences of the world; back to seeing himself - exposing all his deepest secrets, and the world's as well.

His work evokes anger, sadness, drama, and shock. And as the paint layers
express the almost violent application of undertones and color, a closer look reveals a deeper personal emotionalism, exhibitionism, and contradiction that is at once the artist, his work, and his target.

Rutz's art is the product of the continuous struggle between a jaded resignation to the social, political, and personal frustrations of life and continued efforts to use this resignation to facilitate positive change, and tell the truth as he sees it.

Somehow, deep in Rutz's work, there exists his personal struggle for self examination and change. He goes beyond the anger and expressions of irony of so many artists, alluding to a suggestion that despite the dark side of his subject matter, Rutz's art provides a resonance of hope, focus, and determination that exists as a light to guide us through the worst that we have to offer ourselves; a violent expression of self love and forgiveness.

Thomas Marquardt