Windowsill, 2007
b. 1963, Düsseldorf, Germany
Lives and works in Düsseldorf and New York
Modernist overhang slab roof houses, brick villas in idyllic surroundings and suburban bungalows with neat garden paths and flowerbeds are the subject of Kürten’s recent paintings. Almost all depict isolated buildings that are surrounded by a wall, hedge or lush vegetation and draw the viewer's attention to a singular piece of invented architecture. These structures often closely resemble iconic mid-century modern dwellings, but have been rebuilt by Kürten’s conflation of imagery. Their sense of familiarity is strong and viewers often feel they have visited these non-existent homes. The surfaces of Kürten’s paintings are composed of innumerable brushstrokes forming patterns that evoke sky, water and foliage. The density of the patterning can elicit a sense of horror, destabilizing these beautiful illusions.
“Even though the houses and gardens that distinguish my paintings are drawn from real houses and gardens, taken from my own photos, books, and magazines, they are somehow transformed into the stuff of daydreams or nightmares. They are devoid of human presence; the apparent idyll feels isolated to the point of oppression. Nonetheless, there seems to be some sort of a presence, like a hidden secret, something untold and left to our imaginations.”
Kürten’s paintings are in the permanent collections of several European institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Kunstmuseum, Krefeld and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In 2011, he was the subject of a solo exhibition Rainbows in the Dark at Cosar HMT, Düsseldorf. Five of his paintings were included in Gesamtkunstwerk, New Art From Germany at the Saatchi Gallery, London in the spring of 2012. Kürten's works on paper are the subject of a solo exhibition, Come on home, at the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr which is on view through February, 2013.