Biography
Ermin was born in 1980 in former Yugoslavia now Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1993, to escape the war in Bosnia, he and his family moved to Berlin, Germany where they lived between 1993-1998. As a teenager in Berlin, Ermin got involved in the city’s vibrant graffiti art scene and made a name for himself as a very talented up and coming graffiti artist. Then in 1998, he and his family moved to the United States settling in Tampa Bay, Florida. Upon arrival in the US, Ermin took on painting and started going to St Petersburg College where he began studying art and architecture. He went on to study art at the University of Central Florida in Orlando where he completed his BFA in Art Studio with Minors in Graphic Design and Art History.
Ermin was actively painting exhibiting his work between 2000-2008 taking part in countless shows throughout Florida culminating in his first major one-man show at the age of 26 at the Maitland Art Center in Orlando, Florida in 2007. He stopped painting in 2008 due to health issues and picked it up again in 2020 with a new vigor and a new vision. His paintings can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout United States. His new works are mature, colorful and bold representations of his core vision and aesthetic steeped in geometric form and a structural sensibility. Currently Ermin resides in Tampa with his wife Lisa and their beloved cat Maximus.
Artist Statement
I’ve always been fascinated by modern architecture and structures especially as it relates to the idea of sculpting space by using geometric form. Modern geometric painting has had a very big influence on my work as well especially the works by Constructivist artists such as Malevich and El Lissitzky and the various other modern Art movements of the 20th century such as Cubism, Neoplasticism, Minimalism, and Surrealism. In my current work I tend to fuse all these different influences and combine them with my own personal aesthetic to create a new visual language that transcends the past and points to something new and different.
We live in a digital age where everything has become computerized and digital. There is a computerized touch to my compositions by using the hard-edge approach or technique. I sketch purely from imagination using a rather basic Apple paint application but do leave some room for adjustments as I paint. I apply layers of paint and sometimes the previous layers can be seen on the canvas as I make adjustments. I do not hide it. I want it to be seen. It shows progression and my continuous zeal for perfection. The composition has to feel and look right. I do believe, that what is referred to as the ‘hard-edge painting’ technique, is the visual language of this time and the future. And I’m adding my own twist to it. I want the works to be striking visually thus my use of vibrant colors, contrast, pure and robust geometric forms, clean lines, etc. I also like to add a surrealistic touch to my works to give it a sense of mystery and add some visual drama. It’s meant to draw the viewer in.
Furthermore, I seek to create visual paradoxes by intertwining 2D and 3D space to add tension, ambiguity and a certain dynamic to the compositions. I would say that space is the key component I explore in my work. Ultimately, my aim is to challenge the viewer’s perception of space and test the boundaries of what is possible by juxtaposing the seemingly impossible and at the same time channel beauty.
Exhibitions
Individual
-
2007 Maitland Art Center – Orlando, FL
-
2005 Green Gallery – Orlando, FL
Group
-
2021 – Imaginaire – Le Cube Vernet – Avignon, France
-
2021 – Art To Life – Online Juried Show
-
2007 – Bakehouse – Miami, FL
-
2006 – University of Central Florida – Orlando, FL
-
2005 – Gala Corina – Tampa, FL
-
2005 – 30x30 Juried Show – Maitland Art Center – Orlando, FL
-
2005 – University of Central Florida – Orlando, FL
-
2004 – Galla Corina – Tampa, FL
-
2004 – Orange Street Gallery – Orlando, FL
-
2003 - Galla Corina – Tampa, FL
-
2001 – St Petersburg College – Clearwater, FL
-
2002 – Leepa Rattner Museum – Clearwater, FL
Awards
-
2021 – Art To Life – Online Juried Show Finalist
-
2005 – 30x30 Purchase award winner – Maitland Art Center