Stefan Kürten

Stefan Kürten (born 1963) is a contemporary German artist who lives and works in Düsseldorf. Known for his intricate paintings of domestic and urban landscapes, Kürten has exhibited extensively since 1984 and his work is held in a number of collections in Europe and the United States.

Life and career Stefan Kürten was born in 1963 in Düsseldorf. After studying Philosophy and English at Heinrich Heine University, he enrolled at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and studied painting with Michael Buthe, receiving his MA in 1989. He then moved to San Francisco, where he studied and taught at the San Francisco Art Institute during the early 1990s. Kürten has since taught at various institutions, such as Hochschule für Künste, Bremen (from 2002 to 2003), Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (2010), School of Art and Design, Alfred University (2012), and Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (since 2014).

Alongside his career in painting, Kürten also makes music under his own name and with the band Elena Farr, and played guitar in the group Superbilk from 1995 to 1999.

Selected exhibitions Selected solo exhibitions

2017: Through the mirror, NextLevel Galerie, Paris 2014-15: Heimlich, Galerie der Stadt Backnang, Backnang, Germany 2012-13: Come on home-Arbeiten auf Papier, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr 2010: Darker with the Day, Parkhaus im Malkasten, Düsseldorf 2008: Always, Künstlerverein Malkasten, Düsseldorf 2007: Shadowtime, Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld; Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin 2005: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, Thomas Dane, Ltd., London 2003: The Nearest Thing to Heaven, Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg 2002: Perfect Day, Alexander and Bonin, New York 2001: In einem anderen Land, an einem anderen Ort, Galerie Michael Cosar, Düsseldorf 1998: Die Lüge der Erinnerung/The Lie of Memory, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco 1998: Different Worlds, Goethe-Institut, Hong Kong 1996: Aus Wiedersehen Bielefeld, Galerie Raab, Berlin 1993: Das ABC des Lebens, Kulturforum Alte Post, Neuss, Germany 1993: Dietmar Werle, Cologne 1993: Life Cycles, Artspace, San Francisco 1991: The Diversity of Life, Dorothy Goldeen Gallery, Los Angeles 1991: Aschenbach Galerie, Amsterdam 1990: One Thousand and One Mornings, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco 1989: Matrix 131: Stefan Kürten, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA 1988: Galerie Ute Parduhn, Düsseldorf 1984: Fun Gallery, San Francisco

Selected group exhibitions

2016-17: The Adventure of our Collection I, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld 2013: La Peintre de la Vie Moderne, Galerie Jochen Hempel, Leipzig, Germany 2011-12: Gesamtkunstwerk, New Art From Germany, Saatchi Gallery, London 2010: Optical Shift – Illusion und Täuschung / Illusion and Deception, B-05 Kunst und Kulturzentrum, Montabaur 2010: Collecting the New, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin 2007-08: Garten Eden: Der Garten in der Kunst seit 1900, Kunsthalle Emden 2007: Early Retirement, Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich 2007: Die Kunst zu sammeln, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf 2005: Le peintre de la vie moderne/De schilder van het moderene leven/The Painter of Modern Life, Museum De Paviljoens, Almere, Netherlands 2004: Come back in one piece, Galerie Anna Klinkhammer, Düsseldorf 2000: Of the Moment, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2000: Extraordinary Reality, Columbus Museum of Art, OH 1995: New Acquisitions, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA 1994: On Paper, The Drawing Room, Amsterdam 1985: Perspektiven 3, Kunstverein Düsseldorf

Selected collections Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA Birmingham Museum of Art, AL The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin Artothek, Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg Stiftung Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf Kunsthalle in Emden Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Knoxville Museum of Art, TN Kunstmuseen Krefeld Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr Clemens Sels Museum, Neuss Museum of Modern Art, New York New York Public Library, New York San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Selected bibliography Shick, Martin and Simone Scholten, Eds. Running to Stand Still: Stefan Kürten. ex cat. Stadt Backnang: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2015 Zybok, Oliver, ed. Here Comes the Night. Works on Paper 2009–2013, ex. cat. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2013 Hentschel, Martin. Stefan Kürten, Black Mirror, Drucke/Prints 1991-2009; Bielefeld, Kerber Verlag, 2010 Thomas, Elizabeth. Matrix / Berkeley, A changing exhibition of Contemporary Art. University of California. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive Hentschel, Martin, Ed. Shadowtime, ex. cat. Krefeld: Kunstmuseum Krefeld; Dublin: Royal Hibernian Academy; Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 2007 Kürten, Stefan and Rebecca Solnit. Inside Out. San Francisco: Artspace Books, 2006 Frankel, David and David Gray. Stefan Kürten: Blue days, black nights. New York: Alexander and Bonin; San Francisco: Hosfelt Gallery; Düsseldorf: Galerie Michael Cosar, Galerie Ute Parduhn, 2004 Reese, Beate. Stefan Kürten (translated by Julia Thorson). Würzburg: Museum in Kulturspeicher, 2003 McCormick, Carlo, Jens-Peter Koerver, Lawrence Rinder. Stefan Kürten: Every day is like Sunday. Düsseldorf: Galerie Michael Cosar, Galerie Ute Parduhn; San Francisco: Todd Hosfelt Gallery, 2001