Joe Curren is a photographer, art framer, a second generation shaper and woodworker, and a Patagonia brand ambassador who lives with his wife Teasha and daughter Rylan near Brookings, a small town on the southern Oregon Coast. Joe has a frame shop and gallery located in Crescent City, California.
The youngest son of 1950’s surfing pioneer and shaper Pat Curren, Joe inherited his father’s restless nature and fine sense of functional style both in and out the water, while his older brother Tom — a transcendent surfer and three-time world champion — instilled in him an irrevocable sense of style both understated and moving, which he translated from his surfing into his photography.
At first, Curren documented his travels with little more than a disposable point and shoot camera. However, after a trip to New Zealand in 1999 — when especially pleased with the results — he decided to invest in a basic 35mm rig that he packed alongside his surfboards and wetsuits. Since picking up a camera Joe’s travels include São Tome in equatorial Africa, Sri Lanka, Greece, and Hokkaido in northern Japan.
Joe’s surfing has been featured in the films Good Times (1996), The Fifth Symphony Document (2001), Glass Love (2004), Thread (2007) and One California Day (2007). His photos have been exhibited at galleries in New York, San Francisco, Portland, London, Paris, Sydney, São Paulo and Tokyo. A survey of Curren’s photographic work has been published as a limited edition in One, by Bueno! Books Japan.
An interest in woodworking led Joe to start making frames for his photo exhibits, which led to framing for other photographers and artists, and to working for Peter Kirkeby, a contemporary art framer in San Francisco. Soon after moving north in 2009, Joe took up shaping surfboards and set up a makeshift space to frame, wooodwork and shape. In 2015 he renovated a mid-century brick and stucco building in downtown Crescent City, now home to his frame shop and gallery.
–steve barilloti, Field Editor, Surfer Magazine
2015 mollusk 10 groop show, Mollusk, San Francisco, California
2014 surfilm festibal, Casa de Cultura Okendo, San Sebastian, Spain
2013 surf gallery retrospective, Artists Republic 4 Tomorrow, Laguna Beach, California
2012 it comes in waves, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Oregon
2011 remember the future, Loft 9 Gallery, San Diego, California
2010 photography show, Gallery of Arts and Culture, Crescent City, California
2009 east meets west, The Surf Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2009 the art benefit ii, Clarke Studios, Costa Mesa, California
2009 the happening australia, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
2009 santos surf art 2, Emissario Submarino de Santos, São Paulo, Brazil
2008 cut/break, Soho Grand Hotel, Soho, New York
2008 the happening world tour, Sydney, London, Cornwall, Paris, New York, San Francisco
2008 clout grand opening, Clout Surf Shop, Malibu, California
2008 the greenroom festival, Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama, Japan
2008 new emissions of light and sound, The Surf Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2007 the countdown, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California
2007 wolfgang bloch, joe curren & david lloyd, The Surf Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2007 joe curren & jeremy harper, Dan Merkel Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
2007 shipworm & gribble, Mollusk, Brooklyn, New York
2007 unraveling thread, Epoxybox, Venice, California
2007 the greenroom festival, Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama, Japan
2007 the happening, Milk Gallery, Chelsea, New York
2007 the happening, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California
2006 the greenroom festival, Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama, Japan
2005 cross the nation, Ashley Tyler Studios, Soho, New York
2005 glass love, PKirkeby, San Francisco, California
2004 surfilm festibal, Casa de Cultura Okendo, San Sebastian, Spain
2003 surf style, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, California
Exhibitions | Solo
2011 points south, Mollusk, San Francisco, California
2005 joe curren art show, Claska Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2018 redwood oysters, Stay Wild Magazine, spring issue #17
2016 d.i.e. (doitessential), interview, Staf Magazine (Spain)
2014 upcycle story, Blue Magazine (Japan), issue #49
2010 liquid salt, interview, Liquid Salt
2009 the essentials, Outside Magazine, June
2008 book-bound beauty, Review of One, Santa Barbara Independent, vol. 22 #105
2008 the big picture, Santa Barbara Magazine, June/July
2008 photographer's session, Nalu (Japan), issue #62
2008 joe curren photofolio, Surfing World (Japan), vol. 31 #13
2007 joe curren interview, Club of the Waves
2007 interview with joe curren, Surf 1st (Japan), issue #56
2007 at home in the shadow of the giants, cover & profile, Surfer Magazine, vol. 44 #4
2006 document your surf trip with joe curren, Surfing Magazine, vol. 42 #10.
2003 walking the road with joe curren, portfolio & interview, The Surfer's Path (UK), issue #38
2003 favorite moments, portfolio, Flow (Japan), issue #008
2003 cold water joe, portfolio, Surf Europe, issue #23
2002 joe curren photography, portfolio, Water, summer issue
2014 the lost dory, The Cleanest Line
2011 japan after the tsunami, Hokkaido, Japan, Alma (Brazil), summer '11
2010 frozen hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan, Surfer Magazine, vol. 51 #5
2010 gerry's yesterday and fresh today, Gerry Lopez Interview, Glide (Japan), summer '11
2009 a tale of two harbors, Mexico with Josh and Bill Mulcoy, Surfer Magazine, vol. 50 #4
2008 frost in translation, Hokkaido, Japan, Surfer Magazine, vol. 49, #2
2008 hanging in the balance, Iceland, Surfer Magazine, vol. 48 #7
2007 i woke up in duluth with icicles in my beard, Lake Superior, The Surfer's Journal, vol. 16 #1
2005 into thin ice, Lake Superior, Surfer Magazine, vol. 46 #5
2004 adaptation, Galapagos Islands, Blue Edge, Sept/Oct '04
2004 sri lanka, Blue Edge, Nov/Dec '04
2004 andrew kidman profile, Water, spring issue
2001 norway jose, Lofoten Islands, Norway, Water, winter issue
2001 only once a stranger, forever friends, Curren Family Vacation, Surfer Magazine, vol. 42 #4
2010 frozen hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan, Surfer Magazine, vol. 51 #5
2009 a tale of two harbors, Mexico with Josh and Bill Mulcoy, Surfer Magazine, vol. 50 #4
2008 frost in translation, Hokkaido, Japan, Surfer Magazine, vol. 49, #2
2008 hanging in the balance, Iceland, Surfer Magazine, vol. 48 #7
2008 a moveable feast, Newfoundland, Surfing Magazine, vol. 42 #8
2006 poseidon's adventure, Greece, Surfing Magazine, vol. 42 #8
2006 found in translation, Taiwan, Surfing Magazine, vol. 42 #2
2005 as the rainbows fade away, New Zealand, The Surfer's Journal, vol. 14 #2
2005 into thin ice, Lake Superior, Surfer Magazine, vol. 46 #5
2004 the end of the road, Sri Lanka, Transworld Surf, vol. 6 #11
2004 ghost world, Newfoundland, Surfer Magazine, vol. 45 #5
2002 glass love, California, The Surfer's Journal, vol. 12 #5
2002 the curren family vacation, France & Ireland, The Surfer's Journal, vol. 10 #3
2002 the long pursuit, New Zealand, Surfer Magazine, vol. 43 #1
2001 long live the king, Tasmania, Surfer Magazine, vol. 42 #13
2001 carry on, Panama, Surfer Magazine, Vol. 42 #12
2001 only once a stranger, forever friends, Surfer Magazine – vol. 42 #4
2000 first water, South Africa, Surfer Magazine, vol. 41 #2
1999 stumbling towards antarctica, New Zealand, Surfer Magazine, vol. 40 #
1998 olvidados, North Atlantic Islands, Surfer Magazine, vol. 39 #8
1997 guest editors, the currens, Surfer Magazine, vol. 38 #8
1997 on thor's river, Scotland, Surfer Magazine, vol. 38 #3
2007 one california day
2007 thread
2006 the lost wave
2006 unsalted
2004 glass love
2001 5th symphony document
2000 loose change
1996 good times
1994 the kill 2
1994 focus
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