Ed Flood

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Ed Flood
Untitled
c. 1973
acrylic, Plexiglas and wood
26 x 19 3/8 x 9 1/2 inches

Ed Flood
Mast
1979
acrylic on canvas on wood
20 x 24 x 20 inches approximately

Ed Flood
C.C.
1978
acrylic on canvas on wood
19 1/2 x 12 x 19 1/2 inches

Ed Flood
Untitled
1978
watercolor on paper
22 1/4 x 30 inches
signed and dated on front, initialed on back

Ed Flood
Untitled
1975
watercolor on paper
22 1/4 x 30 inches
signed and dated on front, initialed on back

Ed Flood

Model
c. 1976
acrylic, foam core and cardboard
8 1/2 x 7 x 10 inches
signature stamp on base

Ed Flood

Jackie’s Club
1968
acrylic, Plexiglas, and wood
13 x 11 x 3 inches

Ed Flood

Pascale’s Triangle
1973
acrylic, Plexiglas, and wood
24 x 30 x 15 1/2 inches

Ed Flood

Untitled (One Side Edge Round)
1973
acrylic, Plexiglas, and wood
14 1/2 x 16 1/4 x 10 inches

Ed Flood

Sketch (palms on cliff with lightning)
n.d.
ink on paper
14 x 17 inches

Ed Flood

Time Capsule (Multicolor)
c. 1966 - 70
mixed media
12 x 12 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

Ed Flood

Time Capsule (Brown)
c. 1966 - 70
mixed media
12 3/4 x 12 x 4 inches

Ed Flood

Edward C. Flood Constructions
1973
acrylic, Plexiglas, wood
13 x 18 1/2 x 2 inches

Ed Flood

Sketch (palm with 3 windows)
n.d.
ink on paper
14 x 13 inches

Ed Flood

Study (with red clouds)
c. 1969
ink on tracing paper
12 x 14 inches

Ed Flood

Untitled (various marker sketches)
c. 1969
ink and marker on paper
9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches

Ed Flood

Sketch for Enemy Gunners
1969
ink on paper
14 x 17 inches

Ed Flood

Study (palm tree)
1968
ink on yellow paper
13 x 9 1/2 inches

Ed Flood

Lone Palm
1968
color serigraph
22 x 17 inches
Edition of 5

Ed Flood

Sketch (palm trees with clouds)
n.d.
ink on paper
14 x 17 inches

Ed Flood

Rain Cloud Over the Island Paradise
1967
mixed media on acetate and paper in artist’s frame
15 x 12 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches

Ed Flood

Untitled (crate)
c. 1970
acrylic and wood
18 x 18 x 4 inches

Ed Flood

Untitled (crate for First Nighter)
c. 1970
acrylic and wood
18 x 18 x 4 inches

Installation view

Automaton, Galerie Buchholz, Cologne, Germany

Ed Flood, c. 1980

BIO

b. 1944 – d. 1985

Ed Flood was a member of the influential group of Chicago artists known as the Imagists who burst onto the art scene in the late 1960s with a series of exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center organized by artist and curator Don Baum. Flood’s work was first shown in the Nonplussed Some show there in 1968.

Flood was always an exceptional craftsman. The layers of impeccably painted Plexiglas held by finely joined wood frames in these early works are a testament to his skills. Like many of the Chicago Imagists, Flood was inspired by pop cultural sources like comics and picture postcards. His method of reverse-painting on Plexiglas achieved a bright and highly polished look comparable to that of mass-produced graphics and pinball machines. Flood used layers of Plexiglas the way a printmaker would use color separations, exploding his seemingly flat images into complicated treasure boxes.

The subversive slickness of Flood’s medium in these early works is complemented by their subject matter. With calculated perfection they show dense tropical landscapes, perky palm trees, and fiery flowers. Soon the palm trees become nonsensical emblems of happiness gone awry; they vibrate mysteriously in empty fields, storm clouds gathering in the distance. By the early 1970s, Flood’s box constructions were almost entirely abstract, with layer upon layer of wiggling pastel shapes that could be clouds, trees, or sea anemones. In pieces like Zero Dead Hero and The Flaming Comet Zulu Dart Board, Flood touches on colonialism and war as contemporary examples of the inherent dangers of both real and metaphorical paradises.

Curriculum Vitae

PDF - Ed Flood CV

Exhibitions

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