KURT HERRMANN (American b. 1972-)Painter Kurt Herrmann (b. 1972, Lock Haven, USA) is a painter from the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania who does both figurative and abstract work, but above all is a colourist at heart. Two of his recent shows were featured in Time Out Chicago and the Philadelphia Inquirer, with recent shows in Tasmania (Penny Contemporary), New Orleans (Octavia Gallery), Auckland (12 Gallery), Philadelphia (James Oliver Gallery), and Charlotte (Sozo Gallery). His work is in prominent collections across the US, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, including Capitol One Corporate Headquarters (Wilmington, DE), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY), and Temple University (Philadelphia, PA). Recent commissions include large work for Hotel Del Coronado (San Diego, CA), and a line of beer labels for Elk Creek Café + Aleworks (Millheim, PA). 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. "I chase colors the way surfers chase waves. Always searching for the perfect combinations so that when they hit the canvas it sings. Waves are temporary, but art is timeless. I can catch the colors and turn them loose into my paintings. I’m fascinated by the language of color. It is universal, but it speaks to everyone in a distinct and personal way. The Color Bomb paintings tap into this language by being vibrant vessels that are ripe with suggestive glimpses of the natural world. It is a mystery where my colors come from, but I believe they originate in the remote Appalachian Mountains where I was born and still live and work. Some of the colors come directly from what I see outside my studio windows – the first tender greens of spring, the robust orange from a tiger lily in summer, or the stark umbers of wet pine tree trunks against fresh white snow. But many of my colors come from memories, or longing for places I’ve never been – the sands and waters of foreign beaches, the indigo blue of the gulf stream running like a river through the middle of the Atlantic, the shine of a black bear’s coat climbing a tree in my front yard, or even the spectrum of crimsons in a Pinot Noir wine held up to the light. But all these inspirations are just the launch pads that start the story. The Color Bombs are open books with limitless interpretations."