Wikipedia

Draft:Tomas Kurth

Tomas Kurth
Tomas Kurth, 2021, with his "Statue of Liberty"
Born
Tomas Kurth

(1955-07-22) July 22, 1955 (age 69)
Stuttgart, West Germany
Other namesvanderkurth
Alma materABK Stuttgart
Occupation(s)Painter, Sculptor, Musician
Years active1970s – present
Websitebildbar.de

Tomas Kurth (born 22 July 1955 in Stuttgart, Germany),[1] also known as vanderkurth (sometimes van der kurth), is a German artist. He is active as a painter, sculptor, musician, and designer, among other fields.[2] His works have been presented at numerous exhibitions and in a feature-film portrait.

Life and Works

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Kurth attended Dillmann-Gymnasium in Stuttgart.[3] In the 1970s, he lived in an alternative commune in Schwarzwald area.[2] After training as a restorer, Kurth studied at ABK Stuttgart under Peter Grau and Wolfgang Gäfgen. Since 1992, he is working as a freelance artist with studios in Stuttgart and Ulm.[3] Kurth presents his works at various exhibitions[4][5][6][7] primarily in Southern Germany.[8]

In Stuttgart-West, Kurth operates the Bildbar, his own gallery where his works are exhibited. It has been called a "popular art meeting place".[9] On 23 September 2022 he opened an associated sculpture garden.[10]

Kurth's artistic oeuvre spans various genres and styles. As of 2024, he has created several hundred paintings and a large number of drawings and etchings.[2] From 2020, with his "Monuments" (Denkmäler) series, Kurth for a while specialised in statues. By the summer of 2021, the series comprised around 40 sculptures.[11] According to Kurth, these monuments are "not intended for famous personalities as usual, but for 'ordinary people'."[12]

As the intended main work of his "Monuments" series, Kurth unveiled the larger-than-life "Statue of Liberty of Stuttgart" in his home town on 26 June 2021.[13] According to his own statement at the occasion, this was intended to "symbolise overcoming the most difficult phase of the coronavirus pandemic."[14] The statue's unveiling was reported on TV[14] and in the press,[11] and its creation as well as Kurth's life and work were documented in the feature-length film "Statue of Liberty" by Alexander Tuschinski.[15][12] The film had its premiere on 2 July 2022 at Delphi Arthaus Kino in Stuttgart.[16][17] After winning awards in Tokyo[18] and screening in Portland, Oregon[19] the film competed for the 2022 Baden-Württembergischer Filmpreis.[20][21]

In 2023, Theaterhaus Stuttgart exhibited a retrospective of Kurth's oeuvre.[22] The next year, Kurth published his book "Secret of Pisa", which features humorous drawings, etchings and paintings involving the Leaning Tower of Pisa.[23]

Tomas Kurth studied at Stuttgart Art Academy at a time when concept art and abstraction were very much in vogue, and he opposed these trends: He always painted in an expressionist, figurative style. In his works, he portrays contemporary trends in a critical manner.

— Harald Amelung [24]

Beside visual arts, Kurth additionally performs as a musician and plays his own compositions on ukulele and harmonica at various venues, appearing in several music videos since 2021. In the 1970s, he produced the album Picknick im Neanderthal with his band Flick Flack Huckepack.[2] In addition, Kurth designed numerous album covers for Fred Frith.[1]

Style

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Tomas Kurth in April 2021, surrounded by some of his paintings.

Tomas Kurth's style is often satirical and characterised by a humorous view of the world and society. His paintings have been described as "humorous, enigmatic and extremely entertaining".[25] Kurth often works with tongue-in-cheek references to visual styles from different eras and cultures.[24] He usually works in series, processing one idea in several works of a similar style.

All his work shares a subtle sense of humour and an often ironic view of society.

— Program guide to retrospective at Theaterhaus Stuttgart[22]

Additional Works

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In addition to his own independent art, Kurth has carried out numerous commissions. In the 1980s, he designed and painted photo backgrounds for Porsche, Lancia and Fiat advertising campaigns.[26] He also worked in various creative positions on advertising photo shoots produced by Scholz & Friends, Springer & Jacoby and other agencies for Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Bosch.[27] In addition, Kurth realised various murals in collaboration with their designers, such as Tomi Ungerer's les toilettes in Plochingen.[28]

In Augsburg, Kurth was involved in the restoration of parts of the gallery of the church St Anna.[29]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Tomas Kurth – Profile on discogs.com". Discogs. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  2. ^ a b c d Tuschinski, Alexander (2022-02-06). "Freiheitsstatue im Lockdown – vanderkurth im Interview" (in German). postmondän. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  3. ^ a b "Tomas Kurth - vita on his official website" (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  4. ^ "Various scanned press clippings for a 1994 exhibit in Reutlingen". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  5. ^ "Entry on artfacts.net about Kurth's solo exhibit "Der Kubismus und andere wertvolle Gemälde" from 20 October - 18 November 1999 in Reutlingen". Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  6. ^ Kunst im Schloss, in: Kultur am Bodensee, No. 05 (July/August) 2009, p. 13.
  7. ^ "Kulturplattform Reutlingen: Entry about exhibit "eat art happening" from 25 September - 1 October 2023 in Reutlingen". Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  8. ^ Kaleidoskop der Moderne. In: Singener Wochenblatt, 25 July 2012, p. 39.
  9. ^ "Long night of the museums, Stuttgart 2019: Entry for BildBar, archived on archive.org". Archived from the original on 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  10. ^ Schätze des Westens, in: Blättle Stuttgart-West, 9/2022, p. 5
  11. ^ a b Wesely, Kathrin (2021-06-29). "Allegorie des Lockdowns" (in German). Stuttgarter Zeitung. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  12. ^ a b Zentner, Eugen (2023-01-15). "Kurzweilige Doku über Kunstprojekt im Lockdown" (in German). Kultur Zentner. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  13. ^ Statue of Liberty, in: Blättle Stuttgart-West, 7-8 2021, p. 15
  14. ^ a b "S-21 Skulptur geht – Freiheitsstatue von Stuttgart kommt". RegioTV. 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  15. ^ "Statue of Liberty". filmportal.de. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  16. ^ "Announcement of the Stuttgart premiere at Delphi Arthaus Kino". Lift. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  17. ^ "Newsletter of Amnesty Stuttgart e.V.: Invite to the premiere" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  18. ^ "Tokyo Film Awards - List of Winners April 2022, archived via Wayback Machine". Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  19. ^ "Program guide of Oregon Independent Film Festival on the official website". Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  20. ^ "Filmschau Baden-Württemberg: Entry of Statue of Liberty". 2022-02-06. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  21. ^ "SWR Gespräch: Filmschau Baden-Württemberg: viele gute Dokumentarfilme" (in German). SWR. 2022-12-07. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  22. ^ a b "Vanderkurth: Halbzeitshow" (in German). Theaterhaus Stuttgart. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  23. ^ "WorldCat: Entry for "Secret of Pisa"". Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  24. ^ a b Amelung, Harald (2019-04-04). "Stuttgart-West: Van der Kurth zeigt seine größten Bilder" (in German). Coworking0711. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  25. ^ van der Kurth: großformatige Malerei, in: Program guide of Kulturnacht Ulm, 15 September 2012, p. 11.
  26. ^ "Examples for advertising campaigns with photos on Tomas Kurth's website". 4 January 2013. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  27. ^ "List of selection of advertising campaigns, as well as some examples on Tomas Kurth's website". 14 January 2013. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  28. ^ "Tomas Kurth – Accound about the mural painting" (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  29. ^ "Account of the restoration on Tomas Kurth's website" (in German). 31 December 2012. Retrieved 2024-08-23.


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