Kurt Herrman: Backwoods Bebop – New Color Bombs

September 14, 2021

Kurt Herrmann ( b. 1972, Lock Haven, USA ) is a painter from the mountains of Pennsylvania who does both figurative and abstract work, but above all he 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 ) , Canberra (Aarwun Gallery), Australia; Auckland ( 12 Gallery ), New Zealand; and Philadelphia ( James Oliver Gallery), Charlotte ( Sozo Gallery ), and New Orleans ( Octavia Gallery ).  Although his exhibition schedule is increasingly international, Herrmann’s rural Pennsylvania roots continue to influence his work. “I’m very aware of the fact that even if a painting was initially inspired by something exotic, or an extremely personal event on the other side of the planet, all my work is filtered through my studio in the hills of Appalachia,” he explains. “The colors, silence, space, seasons, landscape, even the rednecks impact everything I make. It’s inescapable.”

"Many of my shapes, forms and colors have been extracted from the mountains of Pennsylvania where I live and work, but I also sample bits and pieces of memories and places I’ve never been.  There are glimpses of big oak trees, tropical waves, winter skies, deer legs, and the pink from a summer watermelon – all under the soundtrack and influence of jazz.  These are some of the sparks that start a painting but they are not the whole story.  The initial inspiration is simply a launch pad to shoot a rocket off into the unknown.  Color does not need to represent anything other than itself.  It is universal yet nothing is more personal.  And that’s how I present these paintings.  I’m distilling something that struck me, but the interpretations and feelings others come away with are infinite."

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