Diego Cortez

James Allan Curtis (September 30, 1946 – June 21, 2021), known professionally as Diego Cortez, was an American filmmaker and art curator closely associated with the no wave period in New York City. Cortez was the co-founder of the Mudd Club, and he curated the influential post-punk art show New York/New Wave, which brought the then aspiring artist Jean-Michel Basquiat to fame.

Early life and education Cortez was born James Allan Curtis on September 30, 1946, in Geneva, Illinois, to Jean (née Ham) and Allan Curtis. His mother was a manicurist while his father was a warehouse manager at a steel company.

Curtis adopted the pseudonym Diego Cortez in 1973 while moving to New York City as a tribute to the Hispanic neighborhood of Chicago where he had lived. He also performed with Avant-garde artist Hermann Nitsch and was a founding member of the New York-based artists group Colab. He has a cameo appearance in Scott and Beth B's No Wave film The Offenders.

During this period, he also performed with artists Kathy Acker and Laurie Anderson, directed music videos for rock bands Talking Heads and Blondie, and organized showings of works by the singer and songwriter Patti Smith. He also wrote the book Private Elvis, containing photographs of American singer and actor Elvis Presley during Presley's time with the army, that he found in West Germany.

In the late 1970s, the avant-garde music and art movement called No Wave came about in the downtown region of the city. In 1981, Cortez curated the group exhibition New York/New Wave to showcase a new generation of artists in the downtown art scene. He later declined an offer from Larry Gagosian for a directorship at his gallery.

Books

Cortez, Diego; O'Brien, Glenn; Sui, Anna (2005). Maripolarama. PowerHouse Books.

Cortez, Diego (2012). Bianca Casady: Daisy Chain. Cheim & Read.