Studio Visit & Interview with Max Ehrman
By John Vochatzer
Of all the studios I’ve visited so far, Max Ehrman’s (aka Eon-75) has by far the most special place in my heart—namely because up until about a year ago I was sharing the space with him. Located in the bottom floor of a Tenderloin apartment building not far from our gallery, this multi-room, former living and storage space is the stuff dreams are made of for an inner city artist—rightfully earning the title of Max’s “happy place.” And although he hesitates to admit it, I’m sure at least part of him is relieved that me and the notorious messes I make migrated down the street as of last June. There are still plenty of vestiges of my time there however, from the dusty mannequin I found on the street and just had to bring in, to the layers and layers of epoxy resin on the “war room” floor with everything from cinder block chunks to cheap paint brushes caked permanently beneath. As much as I miss the time I spent working and sharing that space with him, it was nice to see it back in it’s original state of being exclusively Max’s little art haven.
And if anyone deserves a great place to create in, it’s Max. On top of being rightfully reputed as one of the nicest guys around, he is also one of the most wildly prolific artists in the Bay Area that I can think of. With a steady stream of studio work, collaborations, commissions and hyper detailed murals being constantly churned out—one might wonder how he finds time for anything else in life. But he does, and manages to be quite the social butterfly as well as globe-trotting at every opportunity and spreading his creative spark as a street artist across several continents. Amidst all of this he’s always growing, always learning and experimenting with new mediums and techniques but never without retaining his own unmistakable style. Consequently his work never stagnates, and always remains fresh and dynamic.
Having both an education in architecture and a history as a graffiti artist, Max’s creative skill-set combines for quite the arsenal when it comes to engaging in this heightened state of artistic play. Like the title of his 3,000 square foot mural on Polk and Olive, “Visual Jazz”, Max’s work is exactly that—a long, skillful performance brimming with surprise and improvisation. It’s been great to watch, and I’m always curious and excited to see where it will lead to next. Keep it up, Max!
Interview
Hey Max! Good times catching up with you in the studio. As usual, it seems like you’ve got a ton of new projects and experiments going on. Want to tell us a little bit about what you’ve been working on lately?
Thanks for coming by! Lately I’ve been working on a few mural projects outside of San Francisco; I was in Santa Clara and Sacramento in the past month. In between jobs I always head to the studio to experiment with different mediums. Some of the new works in the studio have been focused on mixed acrylic pours in a 3d textural abstract format, and of course flora and fauna paintings. I’ve also been designing in photoshop some concepts for future studio work
I’ve heard you refer to your studio as your “happy place” before. What’s the importance to you of having a comfortable setting to make art in?
It’s vital to the creative process. I think everyone needs a place that they can feel comfortable in when creating—this is true of music, art, basically any medium a person works in. There is nothing better than walking around barefoot and listening to music while painting. When you’re in your studio there is no judgement or fear of what people will think of your work. You’re just in the moment having fun. That is a happy place for anyone.
We talked a little bit about your three distinct styles of work— there’s the more organic, biomorphic abstraction, then the architectural/geometric abstraction, and finally the animals and less abstract physical forms. And the three overlap regularly. Can you tell us a little bit about these different styles you work in—where do they come from and what do they signify to you?
I gravitate towards the abstraction of nature and the harmony found in the architectural design of our beautiful universe. Having studied architecture and worked as an architect for many years I feel very comfortable with drawing and creating 2-point perspective drawings. My abstract work is based off the harmony of nature and the sacred numbers associated with its construct.
Mural at Tahoe Elementary in Sacramento.
Having grown up next to a beach I have a deep love for nature, this can be found in the characters that I paint. What I love about painting characters is the textures that are found in feather and fur. Also recently I've been trying to make the eyes of the animals I paint look as real as possible. There is so much gorgeous detail found in the iris. For a while I was painting birds and lately I have been focused on sea creatures. This started when I painted a crab for the restaurant Barrio in Fisherman’s Wharf. After that I painted for Sea Walls in Santa Cruz and it was an aquatic theme as well. So this exploration has been going on organically for the past year. Lately I've been trying to combine the abstract work with the characters but combing the line work throughout the concept and character. More integration needs to happen to have it look fluid but it’s a fun process...
On top of your studio work, you’re perhaps more well known for your outdoor and mural work. What’s the relation between the murals and your studio work? And do you have a preference for one or the other?
I love being out in the streets painting! I started off as a graffiti writer 25 years ago so my first love is being in the streets painting. There is something special about the people you meet and the stories that they will share with you when you’re outside painting. Art is a bridge between communities and it really opens up a dialogue with people walking by. Also by changing the urban fabric you can really help make an impact on a person’s daily commute. I once worked on a mural for month at Polk and Olive and everyday people from the area would stop by on their daily walks just to say hello and say thank you. Even after a while the police would come by on their routes and bring me water or lunch hahaha.
Mural at Oak and Divisadero in San Francisco.
The studio is an amazing way to further one's thought process on a style, but it does not have the same connection to the community as painting outside does. There is something special about getting a hug from a stranger as a thank you for painting a wall in their neighborhood. Cheesy I know but also very rewarding.
Recently you completed a few murals in Sacramento, including one for the city’s newly annual Wide Open Walls festival of which this was your third time participating. Can you tell me a little bit about the work you did in Sac? And how has your experience been painting there?
I’m always honored to get invited to any mural festival and feel humbled and excited about the experiences. In the past year I’ve had several commissioned jobs in Sacramento that were very challenging but fun. Any day painting is a good day, I always say.
The Wide Open Walls festival is very organized and very professional. I feel a bit spoiled sometimes by all the love they show their artists. Sacramento itself is a great city filled with amazing artists and tons of murals. I think at this point there are over 400 murals in the city. Its always inspiring to walk around and see such high quality work everywhere.
It was cool seeing some of the commission work you’ve done recently—it seems like no matter what you’re hired to do as an artist you do a good job of always imbuing the work with your signature style. Do you enjoy the challenges of doing commission work? And what are some of the commissioned jobs you’ve done recently?
It is such a challenge sometimes to make the vision of the client come to life and still find a little happiness in what you're painting. But i always keep in mind that I’ll grow as an artist with each job that is out of my comfort zone. It’s amazing what I get asked to paint though sometimes, but then when I do have creative freedom it makes it all the more special. Recently I painted a large mural that was 20'x40' of an Italian landscape... It was very much out of my comfort zone but I’m so happy how it turned out. I was able to pull it off and now have the knowledge of the process and another piece to add to the portfolio. I did sneak an Eon-75 in one of the windows hahaha. Another client wanted me to paint American landmarks from the east to west coast for their restaurant in Sacramento. That was another very challenging mural but again, what I learned during that process was so beneficial to future projects. Again, I just keep in mind my saying "any day painting is a good day.”
Max’s notorious spray paint collection.
You also do a lot of collaborative work, just in the past year you’ve worked with Nicole Hayden, Natalie Gabriel, Pancho Pescador, Pablito Something, and Keenevisions, just to name a few. What do you like about collaborating with other artists? And are there any artists out there that you’d particularly love to collaborate with?
I love collaborating with other artists because I always learn from the people that I am painting with. It’s nice to throw ideas around with another artist and compare visions for what the mural will be. You also have to be humble and be okay with someone painting on top of your piece or incorporating their style within yours. For years I’ve painted with Ian Ross who is one of my favorite people and person to paint with and just an amazing human. We have painted live at Outside Lands three times and Treasure Island Music Festival I think 5 times. Such good memories over the years of our artist adventures. We have an intuitive process and at this point when we paint abstract together it is just second nature.
Collaboration with Ian Ross done at Outside Lands Music Festival.
Two of my favorite people are in my graffiti crew in Belgium (Team Alosta) and ZNC in Singapore. First writer is Waf from Belgium—he is a master at anything he puts his mind to and it’s amazing to watch him come up with his concepts on the fly. He can just go to a wall and off the top of his head pop out a character in renaissance style holding a spray can. He amazes me. The second person is Vance from China, we painted together at the Meetings Of Styles in Manilla and Bangkok. If you haven't seen his work please have a look. Also I can’t leave out the Slac, he’s the founder of my crew ZNC. When I say this man can paint anything I mean he can paint whatever he puts his mind to. He is very inspiring.
Last year you had an Ayahuasca experience that sounds like it had a pretty powerful effect on you. What was your experience like and did it have any lasting effect on your creativity? And are you ready to do it again?
I think everyone at some point should attend a ceremony and try the medicine. I went in with an intention focused on art and the creative process, but Mother Aya showed me something completely different and extremely personal. It was very healing and just what I needed at that time in my life. I wont get into the details but it was very healing. After showing me what I needed I then was carried through the cosmos and space and time did not exist. I was everywhere at multiple moments in time, it was wild to say the least. Not sure if it helped out my art but it sure did help me with issues I was battling with that I didn't realize i needed to acknowledge. Do it again? Sure, what are you doing tomorrow lol?
We were talking a bit about doing mural tours, and how you’re interested in starting to organize some with us here in SF and in the Tenderloin in particular. What are a few of your favorite murals in the city right now?
That’s a tough one because there are so many good ones. Cobre has a great mural downtown as well as Serge Gay Jr. He has a some great pieces in the city from Valencia street to the TL. BIP’s golden brains that are hugging on Geary are pretty amazing as well.
Pablo and Pancho have some really amazing parklets and murals in the city as well. Pablo created some really cool frogs in Lower Haight that are great as well. Also Jenks is creating some really amazing freestyle pieces lately throughout the city. Some of my favorites have disappeared like the Nychos tiger and also Lango’s work.
Max in front of his mural “Visual Jazz” located at Polk and Olive in San Francisco.
What’s next for you? Anything coming up that you’d like folks to know about?
I will be headed to Northern Nights Music Festival this month. It’s my 7th year painting at this festival so I’m super excited to go back and paint live. It’s a great 3 day festival filled with art music and good vibes. After that it’s back to the daily hustle hahah but I love it.
