Kyle Thurman “Error erred”

David Lewis Gallery

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David Lewis presents Error erred, a new exhibition of work from Kyle Thurman’s ongoing Suggested Occupation practice. Photographs found online during daily news browsing are employed as source imagery to be translated through both drawing and painting for these works on paper. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery, and his first solo exhibition since participating in the 2019 Whitney Biennial.

(correspondence notes)

wonderful that you are in dialog with Confessions - timeless classic. Augustine is applicable for all ages.

The question you ask about English language translations makes me think of the Italian saying “traduattore traditore” which translates to “every translator is a traitor”

Augustine himself thought that we can never find words that adequately convey the fullness or the essence of what we are thinking, feeling, or deciding. So when it comes to translating already imperfect words from one language to another, the process gets even more complicated and imperfect.
It’s a very good question about “error” (“my own error” or “I loved my error - not that for which I erred but the error itself”).

The error part you reference is found in the Confessions Book II.4.9. To understand the real meaning that Augustine intended, it’s important to refer to the original text that was written in Latin. He used the Latin word “defectum,” which was translated as “error.” In the previous sentence he used the Latin word “militia” (malice) and in the following sentence he used “turpis” (depraved) and “dedecore” (foul deed). Looking at all of these words together, Augustine utilized a treasure chest of synonyms to describe “sin.”

“Defectum” has been translated as decay, evil, and error - probably in other ways as well Does this answer your question?

Kyle Thurman (b. 1986, West Chester, PA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. In 2016 he received an MFA in painting from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. From 2011 to 2012, Thurman studied with Christopher Williams and Peter Doig as a guest student at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf. In 2009 he received his BA in Film Studies and Visual Arts from Columbia University.

Most recently, Thurman was included in the 2019 Whitney Biennial curated by Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta; his work is now included in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Other recent solo and group exhibitions include Central Fine, Miami Beach, FL; The Meeting, New York, NY; Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, Austria; 1301PE, Los Angeles, CA; Off Vendome, New York, NY; The Cleveland Triennial, Cleveland, OH; Parapet Real Humans, St. Louis, MO; Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Cookie Butcher, Antwerp, Belgium; Office Baroque, Brussels, Belgium; Kostyal, London, England; Benevento, New York, NY; OFFSITE, New York, NY; Bodega, New York, NY; MOCA Tucson, Tucson, AZ; Fluxia Gallery, Milan, Italy; Laurel Gitlen, New York, NY; Dickinson Gallery, New York, NY; Galeria Marta Cervera, Madrid, Spain; Lisa Cooley and Laurel Gitlen, New York, NY; Room East, New York, NY; Middlemarch, Brussels, Belgium; Nudashank, Baltimore, MA; Shoot the Lobster, Miami, FL; Maison Particuliere, Brussels, Belgium; West Street Gallery, New York NY; Eleven Rivington, New York, NY; Clearing, Brussels, Belgium; M and B Art, Los Angeles, CA; Martos Gallery, New York, NY; Printed Matter, New York, NY; and The Mercantile Fiction Library, New York, NY among others. The artist’s upcoming exhibitions include Central Fine, Miami Beach, FL and Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, Austria.