A new, huge art installation in the Tenderloin will be officially unveiled this weekend, but muralist Max Ehrman—also known as EON75—is seeking to recover the costs of his work.
When Ehrman moved to the Lower Haight several years ago, he obtained funding from various city arts funds, but those budgets have been cut.
But he hasn't let the lack of funds stop his creative process. For the 40’ by 80’ mural on Mitchell Brothers' O’Farrell Theater—his largest work to date—Ehrman launched a GoFundMe page to recoup the costs of paint and equipment, including a 45’ boom cherry picker.
Ehrman said he learned of the opportunity to paint the massive wall at the corner of Polk and Olive streets through a friend, who helped him get in contact with the theater's owners.
After receiving his inquiry, the owners were open to adding a mural, but didn’t want to pay for it. While costs are an outstanding issue, Ehrman said he had free rein in the design because the owners weren’t paying him.
According to the artist, his creative process is similar to jazz, and results in a “freestyle visual representation of a harmony of forms and colors.”
Ehrman said his latest mural represents nature's harmony. “One form leads to another, and each piece told me what it wanted to be based off the geometry of the last form that I created.”
The title of the installation is also freestyle. "'Visual Jazz,' 'Natural Harmony,' 'Funky Jazz Abstraction... you pick," said Ehrman.
The artist, whose moniker combines "Extermination of Normality” and his birth year, received some help buffing the huge wall, which has hosted several murals over the past few years. Once he started painting, he was on site seven hours a day for about three weeks straight, he said.
Ehrman also does studio works and has decorated cars and trucks. Some of his murals are collaborations with friends, but many of his solo works appear around the Tenderloin.
To meet the artist in person and learn more about his influences, attend Sunday's unveiling at 3pm.