Damien Kurth - Murmur: Preview Catalogue

Sanderson are pleased to present the exhibition Murmur by Damien Kurth. 

In this new body of work, Kurth continues to interrogate philosophical concerns within the tradition of the still life genre.

Through his chosen modality, the artist explores the concept of haecceity - the properties or qualities that make something uniquely what it is. This notion gestures toward a universal truth or essential understanding of an object, one that language may struggle to articulate.

Within Kurth’s images, the essence of his chosen objects is preserved in a poetic stillness. He arrests the haecceity of the seemingly mundane through his unique arrangements of inanimate and delicately lit objects. The assemblances take on new forms and meaning, each individual presenting unique characteristics.  

The artist uses traditional ground gesso and the age old medium of egg tempera, building up the painting’s surface; each stroke 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, while fluorescent post-it notes and crumpled foil punctuate his compositions; drawing the viewer’s eye across the canvas, achieving an overall sense of balance and harmony.

Kurth’s work is held in numerous collections in Aotearoa and worldwide. He is the winner of the Otago Polytechnic Painting Award, the Derivan Painting Award, the Cleveland Art Awards (Highly Commended) and was a finalist in the Adam Portraiture Award.

'Becoming - is not one of imitation or analogy, it is generative of a new way of being that is a function of influences rather than resemblance.  The process is one of removing the element from its original functions and bringing about new ones.' - Delueze and Guattari