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Life and Work

Stefan Kürten

Picturesque houses, stylish bungalows, carefully tended gardens - the works by the Düsseldorf painter show residential architecture that corresponds to the dazzling promise of economic prosperity after the Second World War.

The houses are beautiful, safe and well-designed places. They are based on architectural photographs and Kürten's own snapshots from California and Northern Europe. The scenery glows from within in a soft, golden light - an effect Kürten achieves through the use of metallic gold pigments and which reinforces the impression of harmony and wealth.

But there is something unsettling about the perfect, idyllic living world. The sky begins to change in strange colours, indeterminate light sources cast enigmatic shadows. The pictures seem to be on the border between day and night: the beautiful daydream already harbours the germ of the nightmare.

Biography

1963 Born in Düsseldorf
1982/83 Studied Philosophy and English at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf
1983 – 1989 Studied Painting at Staatlichen Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with Prof. Michael Buthe, Masters Degree
1989/90 Studied Painting (Graduate) at the Art Institute, San Francisco
1992 Taught at the Art Institute, San Francisco
2002/03 Guest professor at the Hochschule der bildenden Künste, Bremen
2005 Taught at the Art Institute, San Francisco
2010 Taught at the Bauhaus Universität, Weimar
2012 Guest professor at the School of Art and Design, Alfred University, New York
2014 – 2018 Guest professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

Prizes and Awards

2012 Theodore Randall International Chair in Art and Design, Alfred University, New York, US
1999 New York-Stipendium, Ernst-Poensgen-Stiftung, Dusseldorf, DE
1997 Kulturförderpreis der Stadt Düsseldorf (Musik), DE
1995 Artspace Grant, San Francisco, US
Kunstfonds Bonn, DE
1991 Kulturförderpreis der Stadt Neuss, DE
1989 Fulbright Fellowship, US
1986 Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, DE
Cité des Arts, Paris, FR

Works (Selection)

Stefan Kürten, Out of Time, 2022
Stefan Kürten, Out of Time, 2022
Stefan Kürten, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, 2021
Stefan Kürten, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, 2021
Stefan Kürten, Life's Been Good, 2021, © Stefan Kürten, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Foto: Achim Kukulies
Stefan Kürten, Life's Been Good, 2021, © Stefan Kürten, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Foto: Achim Kukulies
Stefan Kürten, Hidden Reflections, 2020, © Stefan Kürten, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Foto: Achim Kukulies
Stefan Kürten, Hidden Reflections, 2020, © Stefan Kürten, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Foto: Achim Kukulies
Stefan Kürten, Sorrow, 2019, © Stefan Kürten, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Foto: Achim Kukulies
Stefan Kürten, Black Holes and Revelations, 2019, © Stefan Kürten, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Foto: Achim Kukulies
Stefan Kürten, Someone (Else), 2018
Stefan Kürten, Mother's Little Helper, 2018
Stefan Kürten, Slowly goes the Night, 2018
Stefan Kürten, Dark of the Sun, 2018
Stefan Kürten, Perfect World (Gold), 2016
Stefan Kürten, Yesterday is Here, 2015
Stefan Kürten, Rock Face, 2013
Stefan Kürten, Darkness on the Edge of the Town, 2012
Stefan Kürten, Lightyears, 2012
Stefan Kürten, Circle, 2012
Stefan Kürten, Door, 2012
Stefan Kürten, Birdhouse, 2012
Stefan Kürten, Aberglaube, 2010
Stefan Kürten, Will you still love me tomorrow?, 2009
Stefan Kürten, Trains and Boats and Planes, 2008

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2020 True Colors, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, US
2019 The Beauty of the End, Galerie Ute Parduhn, Dusseldorf, DE
2018 The Prettiest Star, Alexander and Bonin, New York, US
2017 Millefleurs, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, US
2016 In Between Days, Galleria Rubin, Milan, IT
2015 Running to stand still, Alexander and Bonin, New York, US
2014 Heimlich, Galerie der Stadt Backnang, DE
Where the Sun never goes down, Galerie Ute Parduhn, Dusseldorf, DE
2013 Tonight and the beautiful Future, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, US
Silencer, Galerie der Stadt Remscheidt, DE
2012 Come on Home. Arbeiten auf Papier, Kunstmuseum, Mülheim an der Ruhr, DE
Here comes the Night, Alexander and Bonin, New York, US
2011 Rainbows in the Dark, Cosar HMT, Dusseldorf, DE
2008 Always, Künstlerverein Malkasten, Dusseldorf, DE
Black Mirror, Thomas Dane, London
2007 Shadowtime, Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld, DE
Shadowtime, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, IE
2003 The nearest Thing to Heaven, Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg, DE
1994 The Good, the Bad, the Between, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, US
1993 Life Cycles, Artspace, San Francisco, US
1989 Matrix 131 – Stefan Kürten, University Art Museum, Berkeley, US

Group exhibitions (selection)

2019 Das Geheimnis der Dinge – Malstücke, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, DE
2018 Das Geheimnis der Dinge – Malstücke, Beck & Eggeling, Dusseldorf, DE
Vlugschrift/Flugblätter, Pictura, Dordrecht, NL
2017 Akademie (Arbeitstitel), Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, DE
2016 Das Abenteuer unserer Sammlung I, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, DE
2015 Don't shoot the Painter, Dipinti Dalla UBS Art Collection, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan, IT
Mehr Kunst, Neuerwerbungen und Schenkungen, Kunstmuseum, Mülheim an der Ruhr, DE
2012 Künstlerkinder. Von Runge bis Richter, von Dix bis Picasso, Kunsthalle, Emden, DE
2011 Gesamtkunstwerk. New Art from Germany, Saatchi Gallery, London
2010 Collecting the New, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, IE
2009 Privat – Wuppertaler Sammler der Gegenwart, Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, DE
2007 Garten Eden. Der Garten in der Kunst seit 1900, Kunsthalle, Emden, DE
Die Kunst zu sammeln, museum kunst palast, Dusseldorf, DE
2005 The Painter of Modern Life, Museum De Paviljoens, Almere, NL
2004 Contemporary Art from Germany, European Central Bank, Frankfurt, DE
2000 Of the Moment, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, US

EXHIBITIONS AT BECK & EGGELING (SELECTION)

Parade

#BEduesseldorf

Parade

Dusseldorf / 3 November – 23 December 2022

Stefan Kürten: When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky

#BEduesseldorf

Stefan Kürten: When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky

Dusseldorf / 1 April – 4 June 2022

Publications

Stefan Kürten: When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky

Stefan Kürten: When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky

  • Artist: Stefan Kürten
    Editor: Beck & Eggeling Kunstverlag
    Text: Gregor Jansen
    Design: Andrea Krause
  • German, English
    Hardcover, 21 × 27 cm
    84 pages, 22 illustrations
  • Beck & Eggeling Kunstverlag, 2022
    ISBN 978-3-94606328-5
  • 25 €
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Geheimnis der Dinge. Malstücke

Geheimnis der Dinge. Malstücke

  • Artists: Thomas Arnolds, Martin Assig, Susanne Kühn, Michael Bauer, Tim Berresheim, Norbert Bisky, Peter Bömmels, Nicola de Maria, Peter Dreher, Lutz Driessen, Robert Elfgen, Heribert C. Ottersbach, Wolfgang Ellenrieder, Max Ernst, Jean Fautrier, Bruno Goller, Wolf Hamm, Thomas Hartmann, Anton Henning, K.H. Hödicke, Gerhard Hoehme, Thomas Huber, Johannes Hüppi, Leiko Ikemura, Olav Christopher Jenssen, Marjorie Jongbloed, Konrad Klapheck, Robert Klümpen, Karin Kneffel, Dieter Krieg, Stefan Kürten, August Macke, Stephan Melzl, Hartmut Neumann, Simon Pasieka, Ulrich Pester, Stefanie Popp, Roland Schappert, Katharina Schilling, Julia Schmid, Andreas Schulze, Norbert Schwontkowski, Sibylle Springer, Norbert Tadeusz, Gert und Uwe Tobias, Cornelius Völker, Friedemann von Stockhausen, Stefan à Wengen, Thomas Werner
    Editor: Ute Eggeling, Michael Beck
    Text: Hartmut Neumann, Hans-Jürgen Schwalm
    Design: Beck & Eggeling (Martina Löhle, Hartmut Neumann)
  • Hardcover, 20 x 24 cm
    196 pages, 175 illustrations
  • Beck & Eggeling Kunstverlag, 2018
    ISBN 978-3-94606320-9
  • 25 €
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Further publications

BECK & EGGELING INTERNATIONAL FIANE ART · DÜSSELDORF · VIENNA — INFO@BECK-EGGELING.DE · WWW.BECK-EGGELING.DE

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