About Ed Gendron
I think that I create, in order to express-the absurdities of being alive, the good and the bad. I grew up in southwestern Virginia., far away from art museums and at that time there was no internet. Nevertheless, I loved drawing people I knew and things that would catch my eye. In college, I became a psychology major but simultaneously I broadened my artistic experiences as much as possible by taking classes and ultimately majoring in Art. As a result, I developed a broad skill set. I draw, paint, do photography, animation, and graphic design.
While still a student, I interned in the local psychiatric institution and had constant direct experiences with the patients. Some were scary, some were touching, even funny in an unexpected way. All were unpolished, raw, and human. This is what I strive to express in my artwork. I like to joke that, at the end of my internship, I was “cured” of my desire to become a psychologist. I’ve pursued an artistic career ever since.
Along the way, I discovered the Surrealists and also noticed that documentary work could be every bit as strange and beautiful as the surrealists paintings I admired. Though it’s not always in the forefront of my work, there is a throughline of narrative elements in everything I do.
While still a student, I interned in the local psychiatric institution and had constant direct experiences with the patients. Some were scary, some were touching, even funny in an unexpected way. All were unpolished, raw, and human. This is what I strive to express in my artwork. I like to joke that, at the end of my internship, I was “cured” of my desire to become a psychologist. I’ve pursued an artistic career ever since.
Along the way, I discovered the Surrealists and also noticed that documentary work could be every bit as strange and beautiful as the surrealists paintings I admired. Though it’s not always in the forefront of my work, there is a throughline of narrative elements in everything I do.
Curriculum Vitae
Invited Speaker/Workshops
•Documentary Workshop: War Reenactors: Who Gets to Tell History, Vermont Humanities, Live Presentation,
St Johnsbury Athenaeum, (May 2023)
• Documentary Workshop: War Reenactors: Who Gets to Tell History, Vermont Humanities, Online Presentation (December 2021)
• Filmmaking Workshop: The Art of Animation, New Haven, Ct (August 2021)
• Filmmaking Workshop: Animation: What Is It, Why Do It? How Are They Made? New Haven, Ct (August 2020)
•Documentary Workshop: War Reenactors: Who Gets to Tell History, Vermont Humanities, Live Presentation,
St Johnsbury Athenaeum, (May 2023)
• Documentary Workshop: War Reenactors: Who Gets to Tell History, Vermont Humanities, Online Presentation (December 2021)
• Filmmaking Workshop: The Art of Animation, New Haven, Ct (August 2021)
• Filmmaking Workshop: Animation: What Is It, Why Do It? How Are They Made? New Haven, Ct (August 2020)
Juried and Invited Exhibitions - Photography
One Person Exhibits - Photography
Grants & Awards
Film Screenings
"Playing Soldier" (feature-length documentary film)
• NH Docs Documentary Film Festival, Yale's Whitney Humanities Center, New Haven, CT (2018)
• Best Video Film and Cultural Center, Hamden, Ct (2018)
“Fishbowl” (feature-length MFA film)
Related Motion Picture Work Experience
• Invited Panelist, Animation Workshop, NHdocs, New Haven Ct, (2020)
• Cinematographer, Music Video for Thabisa Rich/Mxolisi Therealmxo Lokwe, (work in-progress)
• Animator, Where Are You Jay Bennett?, a Rock Documentary by Gorman Bechard
• Emerging Artists Grant Panel Reviewer, (Film Category) Durham Arts Council, (Fall 2014)
• Filmed interviews for the the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education of NC. (Holocaust Speakers Bureau) (Spring 2014)
• Invited Panelist, Animation Workshop, NHdocs, New Haven Ct, (2020)
Radford University (Radford, VA)
Education
MFA, Radford University (2007)
BFA, Radford University (1992)
- Some Body: Examples of the Human Form, West Hartford, CT, (February 2022)
- Reenactor Moments, Solaris Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, (September 2020)
- Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography (Laura Wexler, Susan Meiselas, Ariella Azoulay, Wendy Ewald , Leigh Raiford, and Sarah Fritchey, Curators), Artspace Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, (July 26 - Sept 14, 2019)
- State of the Union (Jim Richardson, Juror), Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury Vermont, (January 3 - January 27, 2018)
- Regarding Leisure (Alexander Diaz and Christopher W. Luhar-Trice, Jurors), University of North Florida Gallery, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida (March 5 - May 5, 2015)
- 9th Photographic Image Biennial Exhibition (Burk Uzzle, juror), Wellington B. Gray Gallery, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC (January 22 - February 15, 2015)
- Pixel and Grain Regional Photography Exhibit (Jeff Whetstone, juror), Durham Arts Guild, Durham, NC (October 3 – November 1, 2014)
- Roanoke City Art Show, Show (juried), Art Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke, VA (2002)
- Fifth Biennial Exhibition, Show (juried), Olin Gallery, Roanoke College, Salem, VA (1998)
One Person Exhibits - Photography
- Come See the Crocodile Woman, XYZ Gallery, Blacksburg, VA (2003)
Grants & Awards
- Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artists Grant, Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC (2009-10)
- Best Special Effects, Progeny Motion Picture Festival (juried), Blacksburg, VA (2006)
- Animation Award, Highlander Film Festival (juried), Radford, VA (2006)
- Special Effects Award, Highlander Film Festival (juried), Radford, VA (2006)
Film Screenings
"Playing Soldier" (feature-length documentary film)
• NH Docs Documentary Film Festival, Yale's Whitney Humanities Center, New Haven, CT (2018)
• Best Video Film and Cultural Center, Hamden, Ct (2018)
“Fishbowl” (feature-length MFA film)
- Ava Gardener Film Festival, Smithfield, NC (2008)
- Lyric Theater, Blacksburg, VA (2008) “Planning Ahead” (animated short)
- Blue Ridge Vision Film Festival (juried), Roanoke, VA (2006)
- Progeny Motion Picture Festival (juried), Blacksburg, VA (2006)
- Highlander Film Festival (juried), Radford, VA (2006)“Desideratum” (animated short)
- Progeny Motion Picture Festival (juried), Blacksburg, VA (2004)
Related Motion Picture Work Experience
• Invited Panelist, Animation Workshop, NHdocs, New Haven Ct, (2020)
• Cinematographer, Music Video for Thabisa Rich/Mxolisi Therealmxo Lokwe, (work in-progress)
• Animator, Where Are You Jay Bennett?, a Rock Documentary by Gorman Bechard
• Emerging Artists Grant Panel Reviewer, (Film Category) Durham Arts Council, (Fall 2014)
• Filmed interviews for the the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education of NC. (Holocaust Speakers Bureau) (Spring 2014)
• Invited Panelist, Animation Workshop, NHdocs, New Haven Ct, (2020)
Radford University (Radford, VA)
- Adjunct Instructor, 3-D Art Foundations (Spring 2008)
- Graduate Teaching Fellow and Instructor of Record, Art Appreciation (2005-2007)
- Invited Guest Lecturer, Computer Animation (spring/fall 2006)
Education
MFA, Radford University (2007)
BFA, Radford University (1992)