Eric Rudd

Since 1972, Eric Rudd has explored extensively the use of rigid, polyurethane foam. Development of this industrial process has allowed the realization of monumental sized sculptures impossible with traditional materials. In 1987, Rudd also uniquely developed in cooperation with G.E. Plastics, the first blow-molded, clear Lexan sculptures ever made. These monumental sculptures incorporate many of the traditional characteristics of glass blowing, but with a complexity and scale not possible with glass. Current projects continue the use of polyurethane foam and polycarbonates in spray and blow molding processes, as well as in combination with other materials. A recent large-scale work, the Dark Ride Project, presents a revolutionary approach to art, by providing computer programmed "Sensory Integrators" to carry viewers through an art installation in a planned time sequence. He is currently working on his first "Top Secret" project.

Rudd, born in Washington DC, majored in art at American University, as well as studied in Italy and Austria. After returning to the U.S., he was invited to join the Jefferson Place Gallery in Washington DC, where his work was shown from 1966 until the gallery's closing in 1974. In 1978, Rudd founded the O Street Studios, where he converted a large warehouse into studio space for himself and twenty other artists, as well as sculpture gallery space for his dealer, Diane Brown. Rudd similarly spearheaded the rescue of a downtown building for arts use from 1981 until 1986. Rudd was a founding board member of the Washington Sculptors Group which exhibits and promotes sculpture and encourages contact with other sculptors from all parts of the world.

In 1990, Rudd founded the Contemporary Artists Center (Berkshire School of Contemporary Art) in the 140,000 square foot Beaver Mill in North Adams, Massachusetts. The Center allows artists from all over the world to create and experiment with, in a large scale space, industrial materials and processes, including the use of a custom designed and built hydraulic art printing press, which is one of the largest in the country - capable of printing on paper 5 x 10 feet. The Center attracts leading museum and gallery directors, critics, scholars and artists each summer to work with developing artists.

Eric Rudd's work is included in many private and public collections, including such museum collections as San Francisco Museum of Art, Allentown Museum of Art, Joslyn Museum of Art, The Menil Collection, National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian) and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, which exhibited his work in 1971 and in a one-person show in 1973. Rudd has lectured throughout the United States and has taught drawing, painting and sculpture, including for the Graduate School, USDA and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC. Honors have included a three month fellowship from the Japan Foundation and an artistŐs fellowship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is currently serving as artist/director for the Contemporary Artists Center.