Edgar Müller
Edgar Müller was born on July 10, 1968 in Mülheim an der Ruhr. He grew up in the rural town of Straelen in the far west of Germany. His fascination with painting began with sketches of his surroundings and paintings of the Straelen landscape.
I looked at the oil paintings from my parents’ collection and said to myself – I can do that too. At least I’ll try.
Edgar attended high school in the neighboring town Geldern where the ‘International Street Painters Festival’ has been held every year since 1979. Inspired by the ephemeral art he encountered on the way to school, he decided to take part in this street painters competition at the age of sixteen.
A lot of the pictures looked so perfect. Then they were also drawn on the rough floor in chalk. I was just fascinated and tried many pastel painting techniques. Over time, my repertoire of styles from the so-called “Old Masters” grew.
Three years later he won the competition in Geldern with a copy of Albrecht Dürer’s well-known self-portrait. In the following years Edgar Müller attended many international street painting festivals. Since 1998 he has been entitled “Maestro Madonnari”, which means something like “Master of the Madonna Painter”. This title is awarded at the oldest street painters festival “Incontro di Grazie” in the small Italian pilgrim village “Grazie di Curtatone”.
In his mid-twenties, Edgar decided to devote himself entirely to street painting and quit his studies as a communication designer. He traveled all over Europe and lived from his ephemeral art. He held workshops on street painting in schools and was a co-organizer of various street painting festivals. Edgar opened the first internet forum for street painters, intended to exchange information and establish contact with international colleagues.
For many years Edgar Müller presented the works of old masters to his audience with almost perfect copies. He invited everyone to share and ultimately understand his enthusiasm for the point of view and the representational skills of the great masters.
What fun! Painting on the street just felt great – everything fit. I traveled to many countries and was able to paint pictures that I loved. I got to know many people as colorful as my palette. Who you meet on the street!
Although Edgar attended a few courses with well-known painting artists and followed intensive studies as a communication designer, he is fundamentally self-taught. Edgar is a pioneer of 3D street painting, revitalizing the new art form with his own ideas and distinctive style.
Due to his experience with copying the works of old masters and modern communication, Edgar uses a reduced, graphic language.
Seine Arbeiten sind selten Darstellungen detailliert ausgearbeiteter Szenen. Edgar bemalt öffentliche Plätze des städtischen Lebens und verleiht diesen eine neue Erscheinung. Er hinterfragt und fordert die Wahrnehmung der Passanten heraus. Sie werden zum Teil des Bildes, der Illusion, während sie ihrem Alltag in der Fussgängerzone nachgehen.
