Ed Erdmann’s art tells stories of Wisconsin’s northwestern landscape and shifting seasons, recreated in sand and dirt.
“He is actually putting dirt from the land from Wisconsin on the canvas and making these dirt paintings,” said Mel Becker Solomon, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s curator of the collection. “They’re incredibly stunning and tactile.”
Erdmann, who lives in Menomonie, is one of 32 individual artists and two groups working in collaboration that will be showcased in the 2019 Wisconsin Triennial, a statewide survey of contemporary art. The exhibition opens in October at MMoCA.
Solomon, along with museum director Stephen Fleischman, curator of exhibitions Leah Kolb and curator of education Sheri Castelnuovo, sought a culturally and creatively diverse group of artists for the show.
“We worked really hard to give spots and curate exhibitions with female artists, artists of color and artists that were making things in nontraditional ways,” Solomon said. Among the artists in the show, 10 identify as people of color.
“You will see representation from artists working in different media, different lived experiences, different geography,” said Erika Monroe-Kane, MMoCA’s director of strategic communications and engagement. “Thematically there’s a lot of variation.
“What’s in common is the level at which they work, and the fact that they’re based in Wisconsin and they’re saying something interesting.”