About the Juror:

Rob Erdle is the current Regent's Professor of Art at the University of North Texasin Denton. He has served as the head of the watercolor painting program from 1976 until present.

He received his Masters of Fine Art at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Rob served as the Director of the New York Chautauqua Institution Art Gallery and Summer School of Art from 1977-1982. He has held over 30 One-Man Exhibitions across the U.S.

The People's Republic of China has twice hosted exhibitions of his work. In 1995 a comprehensive invitational solo exhibition was held at the Shanghai State Art Museum showcasing large-scale experimental watercolors up to 24 ft. in scope. The exhibition was the first invitation to a western watercolor artist since the 1960 Turner Retrospective. In 1998 the prestigious Luxan Academy of Art in Sheyang showcased his work.

Rob's most recent 1999 international shows were viewed in Portugal and Switzerland. Rob's work may be found in the collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Springfield Art Museum, Price Waterhouse, TexasInstruments, Southwestern Bell and many others.

"The Watercolors of Rob Erdle", a survey of work from 1972-2000 contains 150 color plates, and is available on his website @ www.worldwidewatercolor.com .

His works may also be viewed at UNT's online gallery at www.art.unt.edu/artbase/ .

Juror's Statement

This is not an easy exhibition to select, or designate awards, as the caliber and consistency of ideas and their execution were strong. All submitted slides were viewed three times on a large format screen in order to look at all aspects of each piece.

There was a wide variety of technical handling as well as an equally wide range of motifs in this years' entries. I found realistic imagery that ranged all the way from work which retains elements of a documentary quality to a highly personal and humanistic interpretation of a kind of realism which transforms the initial image into an abstraction. Highly imaginative and fantastic images have been used to create a surrealistic presentation in some works while others have relied on purely personal kinds of symbolism to create a statement. A number of artists have created flat surfaces filled with freely moving designed abstract forms.

The surprise, as always, is experiencing the actual work and seeing the various auras that they create in the gallery space. As the juror, it was a pleasure to participate in this exciting process.

The Irving Art Center and its patrons are the real winners this year. A special thanks to the artists, staff, and volunteers who make this kind of high caliber show possible.