Virginia Erdie

Virginia A. Erdie

Born 1958 in Fairmont, WV. Graduated BFA from The Maryland Institute, College of
Art 1986. Graduated The School of the Art Institute of Chicago 1989. Exchange
student on scholarship Central School of Art and Design, London 1984-1985.

Virginia Erdie has been creating fine art for over 30 years. The colorful oil paintings
she is most known for create a tension between the bright, cheery colors she uses and
the often dark or satirical meaning of the symbols and imagery. The meanings are
usually focused on crooked politics, sociological underpinnings that affect the
individual, and dark experiences from her years as an art therapist with the criminally
insane in locked, psychiatric settings.

She likes to share information about the world to her viewers by presenting the art
works and installations in a clean and pretty manner so that their experiences are
pleasant but also so that they will come away from the exhibits with some interesting
insights about the world at large.

Virginia A. Erdie

I am an artist. I was born an artist. I have a bachelors of fine art from The Maryland
Institute, College of Art. I also care about people, so I have a masters degree in
Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and teach art to autistic
children and teens.

I also care about social issues. A lot of my portfolio is my unconscious stream
projected onto a canvas, paper or wood, often making poignant or subtle
statements about greed, corruption, social issues, and other things that seem to
irritate me about the human condition.

I am also fascinated with quantum physics, string theory and other scientific
studies on reality, where other simultaneous dimensions and theories of such are
explained in as much detail as Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Therefore, some of
my work is all about fractals and how I think they might appear as wormholes that
link to other dimensions and realities.

I am here to share and enlighten. Sometimes that might require some inner work
and reflection, which might not feel so good at the time but, in my opinion, is
necessary for evolution.

My later years find me scrapping around the alleys again and putting together
installations that I hope will make an impact or share an observation or make
people think about stuff.

Recipient of the Jules Bodarky Scholarship and the E. A. Navaretta Scholarship through the Maryland Institute, College of Art (1984-1985).

Exchange student at Central School of Art A Design, LONDON, England (1984 – 1985).

225 NW 26th Street, Miami, Florida 33127 (Wynwood Art District)

shauna lee lange ~ art church

Virginia Erdie, Wynwood Art District, Art Basel Miami 2013

Miami Artist Virginia Erdie has a lot to “say” about the state of the world today. Especially concerned about sex trafficking issues, men and power, women and image, gender roles, peace and war, and really examining who and what we are emotionally, culturally, and politically, she wanted to coalesce weighty topics into one meaningful art installation for Art Basel Miami 2013. So she built a penis.

Not just a penis, but a huge, angry mirrored penis laden with bullets, gold, and blood. And then she placed it right smack in front of an oversized regal-looking mirrored chair to “force” people to examine the form (and to reflect on themselves looking at it).

The interactive installation move was a somewhat difficult decision in pursuit of new art work to expand the expressive painter’s realm. Erdie is a former art therapist with a MAAT from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (Art Therapy) who worked and dealt with the criminally insane and patients with serious mental illnesses. She had produced and released a sizable body of work over the years to include paintings, etchings, and constructions. As she opened the internal door to darker artistic themes, she began finding her new authentic visual voice.

Interestingly, Erdie doesn’t strike as a person who seeks attention, is overly hot-topic opinionated, or who ascribes to an “in your face” style. In some ways, she may be the least likely to be producing works that transform an inner sex and gender dialogue into external expression. Shying away from major self-promotion or even crazy-paced Basel self-marketing, the Wynwood Art District studio tenant is happy to remain in the low light to let the effort speak for itself.

“The concurrent psychological “studies” I am doing with these people keeps me alive. I try never to be judgmental or ridiculing. I am sincerely interested in how people feel about world issues. An Italian man [image above] visiting my studio had a completely different perspective on war. I find it all very interesting. I’m in it for the soul food.”

Erdie couldn’t ask for anything more. For example in the above pre-Basel studio test, a young man wearing a kilt entered the space. After exploring Erdie’s colorfully bold exotic and erotic paintings, he examined the penis. Resting in a second art chair, he began powdering his face with a cosmetic compact. A second studio visitor is more taken in the moment with the behavior of the young man than she is of the central work. And in the distance, a bleached-blonde twenty-something female captures the moment on film, while Erdie in the off-camera snaps an image of the scene.

Erdie can handle this type of youth-based “exposure” in themes of vanity and body image, too. And she stands ready to “talk through” conceptual ideas with visitors, even within the night light party atmosphere of the art world’s biggest event. She currently teaches art to autistic teens and children at a nearby facility. In the rush before Basel opens, Erdie hopes to further develop Giddy Gold [shown unfinished above] as iconic work in drawing out themes of money, sex, gender, and cultural role play.

Erdie is also bracing herself for the literati of Basel, her exhibition at the Wynwood is slated to be one of the most controversially memorable of this year’s offerings. In preparing the provocative penis, Erdie employed the services of Florida-based Shauna Lee Lange Arts Advisory in exploring art business trends, thoughts and manifestations for Art Basel Miami 2013. Erdie as a wholly independent artist, is considering exhibition collaborations with established art institutions and galleries. Of her advisory experience with Lange, she writes:

“Thanks to your help and guidance, I am on my journey as an art therapist and fine artist, making installations that evoke honest emotions from people about serious issues involving the human condition.”

GAB STUDIO
225 NW 26th Street
Miami, Florida 33127

Gallery Hours: Wed – Sat, 11am – 8pm

Visit online gallery for available work:

www.virginiaerdie.com

For studio appointments, email or call:

virginiaerdie@gmail.com

(305) 409-1662

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Shauna Lee Lange is an Arts Advisory consulting consortium founded in 2006 and located in Southwest Florida. 941.875.5190 or 941.875.9090. Mentoring artists, collectors & arts organizations on art’s applications, we excel in providing strategies for visual thinking, curating, and exhibition. Our public art & technology initiatives grow a commitment to consciously create cultural change. Creative Art Consultants International is the firm’s no-cost integrated social media think-tank with over 6,000 global arts professionals.

Shauna Lee Lange as professional artist is also a thought leader working in the fields of public art, advancement, and sustainability. A U.S. Navy Veteran, Lange exhibits her self-taught art journals, visual diaries, and sketchbooks nationally. In 2013 – 2015, she was awarded10 solo shows featuring her organic Microcircles Series with Charlotte County Florida Art in Public Places. All original copyrighted written content for this article is the property of Shauna Lee Lange. All visual content is the property of Artist Virginia Erdie, used by agreement with exclusive permission.