Biography
Erin Fostel (b.1981, Baltimore, MD) spent the first few years of life navigating the world with blurred vision. Since the moment she first wore glasses, seeing things in focus for the very first time, she has been consumed with the joy of observation and a love of drawing. In 2004, she received a BFA in Drawing from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions both in the Mid-Atlantic Region and nationally. She is a past winner of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award and a Municipal Art Society of Baltimore City Travel Prize. Her drawings have been included in local and international publications, as well as private and institutional collections. Her studio is based in Baltimore, MD.
Photograph by Ana Tantaros
Artist Statement
I create meticulous drawings that invite people to consider their connection to the physical spaces they inhabit. Using photographs for reference, I engage in intense observation. Through the persistence and repetition of marking, smudging and erasing charcoal, I am dedicated to transcribing what I see, but aiming to make something unseen visible. I depict the urban landscapes of cities, the wild landscapes of nature, and the private interiors of home. After experiencing the loss of a loved one I have become consumed by the interplay of presence and absence. I am trying to capture the fragility and impermanence of life by making tender drawings of the environments we inhabit while living that life.
Curriculum Vitae
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EDUCATION
2004
BFA in Drawing
Maryland Institute College of Art
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
Tuttle Gallery, Owings Mills, MD
The Shed, Baltimore, MD
2020
City Hall North Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2019
Katz Gallery, Friends School, Baltimore, MD
2018
Marketview Arts, York College, York, PA
2017
Terrault Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College,
Baltimore, MD
The Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
GRANTS
2019
Maryland State Arts Council
Individual Artist Award
2018
Municipal Art Society of
Baltimore City Artist Travel Prize
COLLECTIONS
Robert W. Deutsch Foundation
Internet Testing Systems
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Artist in Residence
McDonough School
Friends School of Baltimore
Visiting Artist
The Walters Art Museum
Franklin and Marshall College
Maryland Institute College of Art
Park School of Baltimore
Towson State University
Lecture
Creative Mornings Baltimore
Park School of Baltimore
Performance
Creative Alliance
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA
Maus Contemporary, Birmingham, AL
2020
Carroll Museum, Baltimore, MD
Fleckenstein Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2019
Current Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2018
Maryland Institute College of Art,
Baltimore, MD
Hickok Cole, Washington, DC
2017
SpaceCamp, Baltimore MD
2015
Fleckenstein Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2013
School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD
2012
Randall Scott Projects, Washington, DC
2011
Hodson Gallery, Tatem Arts Center, Hood College, Frederick, MD
Goucher College, Silber Gallery, Baltimore, MD
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
"Living with Art," by Nora Belblidia, BmoreArt Magazine Issue #10
"60wrd/min COVID Edition: Erin Fostel, Shayna Miller, Dear Gaza, Morgan Sims, Diana Guerrero-Maciá, Rana Siegel," by Lori Waxman, Newcity Art
"Rights and Wrongs Exhibition Examines the Ongoing Struggle for Suffrage," by Suzy Kopf, BmoreArt
The Hopper Prize Journal, https://hopperprize.org/erin-fostel-interview/
"Winning the Travel Grant," by Cara Ober, BmoreArt
"4/4/4 Graphite," by Amy Boone-McCreesh, Inertia Studio Visits
"The Weight of Absence," by Matthew Connelly, BmoreArt
"Art shopping with An Edge," Baltimore Magazine, December issue
Walk the Line: The Art of Drawing, by Marc Valli and
Ana Ibarra, Laurence King
“Big Drawing as Performance," Elephant Magazine Issue #10, by Ana Ibarra and Marc Valli
International Drawing Annual 7, by Jason Franz, Manifest Creative Research Gallery & Drawing Center