M.A.R.
Manifest Artist in Residence
2021/2022
Ed Erdmann
Ed Erdmann is a United States artist based in the Midwest. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin Stout. Erdmann's work investigates the landscape and its relation to human mortality, grief, and myth. Through exploration of natural forces Erdmann looks for ways of integrating those forces into his work. His work calls upon the land artists and color field artists, while challenging traditional landscape paintings. The wind, plants, trees, rivers, and soil all are active elements that find their way into Erdmann's paintings and drawings. His work has been shown in solo and group shows regionally in places such as: Wisconsin Public Radio, Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati OH, and The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison WI.
Ed was a Manifest 2020/2021 Scholar in Residence. He applied and was accepted for the MAR in order to continue on into a second full year of residency, albeit in a different studio on Woodburn.
Artist's Statement:
"Time has power. Like Sisyphus, the Earth is bound to cycles. The landscape speaks softly. Time is an arrow. Once it is loosed from the bow it will not stop until it hits the ground. Our human mortality acts in the same way. The landscape speaks honestly. Death is real. We, in varying degrees, have to wade through the mucky banks of mortality. All things need time to grow and become what they are. My work grows and changes through the restriction of control within the seasons. The weather calibrates the work that I make.
This work is based in observation. It is often a quiet and personal action. Through walks I find connections to landscape and meditation in the stillness. The repetition and changing nature of seasonal weather guides the choices and materials that I use.
Like a prayer, I repeat patterns, forms, and actions."
The images pictured at right are a sampling of those featured in Ed's two-person SIR show with Seth Cook at the conclusion of his first residency.
As Manifest Artist in Residence Ed will now be based out of our MAR North Studio at the Gallery on Woodburn Avenue.
See more and learn about Ed's work here:
http://ederdmannart.com
Information on how to apply for future SIR or MAR awards can be found here.
