Erik Tidemann

February 10, 2015

Hugo Hess

Music, Gestalt, .

Erik Tidemann is a young Norwegian artist whose work is characterized by the use of several media ranging from paintings to drawings to dead animals. His works are often based on fictious tales about extreme characters in different ways related to our society. Through several exhibitions in Norway and abroad Tidemann has proved himself a powerful young artist.

Erik Tidemann studied at Hons Fine Art (First Class) at the The Arts Institute at Bournemouth, UK from 2001 till 2004 where he got his BA and from 2004 to 2006 he obtained an MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, UK.

Erik’s use of dead animals for art objects began when he studied in Bournemouth. Going to New Forest to collect road kills he made a carpet from the fur. He had to work with his dead animals amongst jars of human skulls and body parts in the morgue. Life and death is a central theme in Tidemann’s art production, and he likes the idea of using something which has once been alive. Fur, skin, wood and plants are amongst his preferred materials. He has even stuffed his earlier dog, making him into a two-legged tombstone carrying his own ashes in a purse.

Early inspirational sources for Erik Tidemann were artists like Harmony Korine, Matthew Barney and Paul McCarthy. Also, he mentions trance, house and metal as references for his own works of art. Role play and the figures he played with as a little kid has also been important starting points for Tidemann’s art production. Erik does not want to be pinpointed into one direction. Trying to read political messages into Tidemann’s works might thus be a confusing affair due to the varied references and points of view.