Sanderson Studies is a curated exploration of art and wine, pairing boutique New Zealand wines with the hero works from Sanderson Contemporary’s exhibitions.
You can follow along by subscribing to receive two wines monthly or a seasonal six-bottle collection below.
Each release is a study in how the energy of the wine amplifies the solid form of each artist’s hero piece.
Marathon Downs x Damien Kurth
I’m exploring the dialogue between art and wine by pairing each artist’s hero piece with a wine that echoes its mood, energy, and emotion. The aim is to translate visual expression into taste, inviting viewers to experience the artwork through another sensory lens. Each match is intuitive and collaborative, celebrating both the artist’s vision and the craft of our boutique producers.
Each month, Boutique Connection sponsors Sanderson Contemporary Art’s exhibition openings.
This is a collaboration of wine and art pairing where we pair a handcrafted New Zealand wine with the artist’s hero piece. The project explores how taste and texture can echo a visual experience and perhaps even enhance it.
I’m exploring the non-verbal dialogue between art and wine and pairing each artist’s hero piece with a wine that echoes its mood, energy, and emotion.
The aim is to translate visual expression into taste, inviting viewers to experience the artwork through another sensory lens. Each match is intuitive and collaborative, celebrating both the artist’s vision and the craft of our boutique producers.
Damien Kurth
There’s something quietly magnetic about Damien Kurth’s work.
At first glance, you’re looking at masking tape, paper, foil, bottles - everyday objects arranged with care. This new body of work continues Kurth’s exploration of the still life tradition, but not in a nostalgic way. He’s using it as a framework to ask something deeper.
He’s interested in the idea of haecceity - the qualities that make something uniquely and unmistakably what it is. It’s a philosophical concept, but in his hands it feels intuitive. We all know that feeling: when an object holds presence beyond its function. When it feels like more than the sum of its parts.
Murmur
Damien:
“At certain times I may describe it as : a bright, colorful assemblage of the known and unknown, working together, building a platform to open up future re-interpretation of the fundamentals.”
Marathon Downs - Marlborough Syrah/Viognier 2024
The wine paired with Murmur was the Marathon Downs - Marlborough Syrah/Viognier 2024.
Marathon Downs is a small-batch, family-farmed producer based in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand, crafting wines with a focus on thoughtful expression and minimal intervention.
Their Last Dance Syrah/Viognier is a co-fermented blend of 95 % Syrah and 5% Viognier. All hand-picked fruit that spends time in neutral oak, offering floral lift, savoury herb notes, and a textured, expressive palate.
This wine aligns beautifully with Damien’s work because both are assemblages of distinct elements that remain individual yet harmonise into a coherent whole. The Syrah provides structure, depth and a cool-climate savoury edge; the Viognier lifts the aromatics and brings a subtle brightness. Just as his compositions balance structure and play, shadow and light, this wine balances weight and lift - creating a tasting experience that feels layered, thoughtful and alive in the moment.
- Renée Dale
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Damien Kurth
Murmur
4th - 29th March
Sanderson are pleased to present the exhibition Murmur by Damien Kurth.
In this new body of work, Kurth continues to interrogate philosophical concerns within the tradition of the still life genre.
Through his chosen modality, the artist explores the concept of haecceity - the properties or qualities that make something uniquely what it is. This notion gestures toward a universal truth or essential understanding of an object, one that language may struggle to articulate.
Within Kurth’s images, the essence of his chosen objects is preserved in a poetic stillness. He arrests the haecceity of the seemingly mundane through his unique arrangements of inanimate and delicately lit objects. The assemblances take on new forms and meaning, each individual piece presenting unique characteristics.
Read more here.