Sanderson Contemporary
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • Viewing rooms
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • EN
  • EN
Cart
0 items NZD$
Checkout

Item added to cart

View cart & checkout
Continue shopping
Menu
  • EN
  • EN
  • Current & Upcoming
  • Archive

DAMIEN KURTH

Thrum

Archive exhibition
11 April - 8 May 2023
  • Overview
  • Works
Damien Kurth Thrum III, 2023 oil on canvas 500 x 500 mm
Damien Kurth
Thrum III, 2023
oil on canvas
500 x 500 mm
View works

'The common place with significance, the ordinary with mystery, the familiar with the seemliness of the unfamiliar, the finite with the semblance of the infinite.’ [1]

Sanderson are pleased to present Thrum, an exhibition of new works by Damien Kurth. Thrum refers to the creation of a rhythmic sound using consistent, repeated humming. The exhibition title plays off the term ‘reverb’ - the title of Kurth’s previous show, which describes a persistence of sound or an echo after a sound is initiated. Reverb introduced a new way to view the artist’s work; as a site of contradictory ideas and perceptions. Thrum echoes these ideas, building on them through Kurth’s use of closely observed representational painting.


 
The ‘still life’ has been used as a genre for artists to pursue formal experimentation and philosophical investigation for centuries. In Damien Kurth’s paintings, commonplace objects provide an opportunity for the artist to focus on the physical act of painting whilst interrogating philosophical concepts of perception and semiotics. Kurth’s previous exhibition Reverb explored the idea that our perception cannot simultaneously hold onto multiple interpretations (i.e what is abstract and representational) but instead oscillates between the two. This experience allows a fissure in one’s perception to occur; revealing new possibilities and modes of experience.
 
A bevel cut crystal glass, an old jar, a patterned tin; these objects are often overlooked and considered mundane. However, sitting central in Kurth’s compositions and devoid of situational context, the familiarity of these everyday objects dissipates, and they gain an element of mystery and intrigue. Kurth’s commonplace objects possess the ‘seemliness of the unfamiliar’ or ‘Jamais vu’ a term used to describe the experience of being unfamiliar with something that is normally very familiar. 
 
The artist uses a traditional ground gesso, building the painting’s surface slowly; each stroke of oil working with the other to create a harmonic whole. Delicately painted sheets of paper and masking tape subtly divide the picture plane, creating a sense of depth. Fluorescent pink post-it notes punctuate the composition of Thrum, drawing the viewer’s eye across the gathering of vessels and achieving an overall sense of balance and harmony. Kurth’s arrangements hold innumerable possibilities; they are loaded with the symbolic. The artist does not ascribe specific meanings to the symbols that occupy his compositions, however. Instead, they sit ready for the viewer to project their own interpretations and perceptions onto them.


 

 


1 Timotheus Vermeulen & Robin van den Akker (2010) Notes on metamodernism, Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, 2:1

Related artist

  • Damien Kurth

    Damien Kurth

Back to Archive exhibitions

CONTACT

Osborne Lane

2-4 Kent Street

Newmarket

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland 1023

Aotearoa New Zealand

 

+64 (0) 9 520 0501

info@sanderson.co.nz

Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm / Sat & Sun 10am-4pm

NEWSLETTER

Be the first to know about our artists, exhibitions, events and more

  Subscribe

 

 

 

  

CONNECT

  FacebookFacebook     Instagram      WeChat 
Gallery Accessibility & Privacy Policy
Environmental Responsibility Statement
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Sanderson Gallery Limited

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Newsletter

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Gallery Accessibility & Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.