Artist's Statement

Color Bombs

I want the Color Bombs to radiate across the room but to also whisper quietly beside you. I want big sound and silence. 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 trunks of trees, winter skies, deer legs, the pink from a summer watermelon and Greek islands I’ve always wanted to see – 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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Artist's Biography

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, and upcoming shows in 2020 will be in Sydney (Anala Art), and 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.”

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Selected Exhibitions

Solo

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2022
Pennsylvania Peacock, Hell’s Kitchen Gallery/Tiny Tree, Brisbane, Australia

2021
Drunk On Water, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Australia

Appalachian Bebop, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX

2020
Neon Mountain, Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia

Appalachian Lockdown Watercolors, online exhibition, Octavia Art Gallery, LA

2019
Blue Eyed Shark, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

New Color Bombs, Anala Art, Sydney, Australia

Bandits, Bears and Dirty Bombs, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Australia

2018
The Kiwi Suite, Color Bombs at 12 Gallery, Auckland, NZ

2017
Sidewinder Gallery, Chicago

Color Bombs, Anala Art, Sydney, Australia

2016
The Fruit of Sugar Valley, Firecat Projects Gallery, Chicago, IL

Hot Feet, Converge Gallery, Williamsport, PA

2014
Siberian Street Scenes, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX

Blockheads, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX

2012
Station Gallery, Lock Haven, PA

Two- and Three-Person

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2020
Atomic Color, Octavia Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA
3 Person Show

2017
Boogie Street, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Australia
With Johnny Romeo

2014
Firecat Gallery, Chicago, IL
3 Person Show

2013
Blockheads, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX

Wagner College, Long Island, NY

Group

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2020
Unplugged, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2019
Scope Miami Beach 2019, Stella Ripley Gallery, Miami, FL

Vivid, Sozo Gallery, Charlotte, NC

The Other Art Fair, Sydney, Australia

Color Me, 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand

2018
Auckland Art Fair, 12 Gallery, Auckland, NZ

Moving Targets, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Five, Sozo Gallery, Charlotte, NC

Sidewinder Gallery, Chicago

12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand

2016
Converge Gallery, Williamsport, PA

2013
Yard Dog Gallery at Firecat Gallery, Chicago, IL

Art Association of Harrisburg, PA

2012
Highwire Gallery Alumni Group Show, Philadelphia, PA

From Life, Converge Gallery, Williamsport, PA

Gwanghwamoon International Art Fair, Seoul, Korea

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