KURT HERRMANN

“Fuzzy Dolphin” consists of two series: Color Bombs, and stone paintings. Each gives me a distinct platform to work from and a different approach to painting. Below are some thoughts on each series and what draws me to them. This is my third solo show at Houska Gallery.

Color Bombs

I want the Color Bombs to feel full and robust. Not quite bursting, but on the verge of being ripe and alive. Many of my Color Bombs play with the sleek, aerodynamic shapes of aquatic creatures like whales and big game fish. When I first saw a yellowfin tuna and a marlin up close, I was struck by their tight, bulbous, powerful forms that seem to scream with life and iridescent color.

The Color Bombs allow me to explore pristine, sinuous lines. The canvas becomes a kind of stage where every speck is laid bare and brought to the front. I’m always interested in how much open space I can create without the painting falling in on itself. It’s a good exercise in restraint to hold off on the particulars in favor of a bigger payoff in the overall piece.

Stone paintings

I love things that are tight and streamlined, but these times seem to cry out for things that are clunky and chunky. Maybe it is an unconscious reaction to the synthetic feel of AI. Can AI play or experience joy? I don’t think so.

I have played with stones and found objects since the late 1990s, but this new series truly feels revelatory: a pushback against some kind of external noise I can’t quite explain. Created with stones, sand, and found objects, these pieces embrace a freedom and unpredictability that I find refreshing and fun.

All these works pour out of the same faucet. I try to harness, or perhaps gently corral, what is coming out and then get out of the way.

Kurt Herrmann (b. 1972, Lock Haven, USA) is a painter from the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania who does both figurative and abstract work, but above all is a colorist at heart. Two of his recent shows were featured in Time Out Chicago and the Philadelphia Inquirer, with recent shows in Tasmania (Penny Contemporary), New Orleans (Octavia Gallery), Auckland (12 Gallery), Philadelphia (James Oliver Gallery), and Sydney (Traffic Jam Galleries). His work is in prominent collections across the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, including Capitol One Corporate Headquarters (Wilmington, DE), the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY), and Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). Recent commissions include large work for Hotel Del Coronado (San Diego, CA), and a line of beer labels for Elk Creek Café + Aleworks (Millheim, PA). Although his exhibition schedule is increasingly international, Herrmann’s rural Pennsylvania roots continue to influence his work.