Pandemic Scream 2020 31x25

Year2020

Hand SignedLower Right 

Condition Excellent 

Framed with PlexiglassWhite Gloss Frame w/ Acid Free Matting 

Purchased fromArtist 2020 

Provenance / HistoryDuring the height of the Covid Pandemic on the East Coast of the Unite States near New York City, the pandemic caused considerable stress, mental dysfunction and general chaos. This work was done to visually codify the mental anguish suffered by those who experienced the uncertainty and confusing morass brought about by the virus itself coupled with the outright misunderstanding, misrepresentation of facts and the ignorance that accompanied the monumental health crisis that beset the country. The fear and mistrust represented in the work evokes Edvard Munch's famous work, "The Scream" as well as other early 20th century works created in response to humanity's worst work done during the two world wars and the scourge of intolerance brought about by extremist political ideologies. Art often responds to human folly from the protest work produced by Picasso entitled "Guernica" to "Sacco and Vanzetti" by Ben Shan encapsulating the wrongful hanging of innocent men. Be it injustice, plague or brutality, art captures it as well as thebeautiful landscapes of Monet. 

Story / Additional InfoThe work came from the inside anguish most of us grappled with during the deepest health threat to this country since influenza at the turn of the last century. It is a part of art that tries to remain relevant to the day. 

Certificate of AuthenticityArt Brokerage 

LID159929

Ed Kerns - United States

Art Brokerage: Ed Kerns American Abstract Expressionist Artist: b. 1945. Ed Kerns (February 22, 1945) is an American abstract artist and educator. Kerns studied with the noted Abstract-Expressionist painter, Grace Hartigan and through the elder artist came to know and work with many artists of that generation including, Phillip Guston, Willem de Kooning, James Brooks, Ernest Briggs, Richard Diebenkorn and Sam Francis. Born in 1945 in Richmond, Virginia, Kerns started painting at a young age. He attended the Richmond Professional Institute, receiving his BFA in 1967. He went on to the Maryland Institute, where he studied with painter Grace Hartigan. Here, Kerns received the Hoffberger Fellowship and graduated with an MFA in 1969. Kerns first gained exposure in 1972, when he was commissioned by art collector Larry Aldrich to paint 100 paintings over the course of the year as gifts.That same year, Kerns had his first solo art show at the AM Sachs Gallery in New York. Over the course of the 1970s and 80s, Kerns formed a close partnership with the Rosa Esman Gallery and exhibited ten solo shows there. Of his work in the late 1970s and early 80s, gallery coordinator Judith Stein says, “He works slowly, creating no more than ten large paintings a year. His media are acrylic, sand, and thread, the last used to stitch together sections of canvas. Often plywood or upsom board is used as support.” Listings wanted.