Mark Herman: Landmarks
Online exhibition
Mark Herman is an award-winning Minneapolis, Minnesota based illustrator and graphic designer. With a background in commercial design, he has completed projects for the likes of Major League Baseball, Sun Country Airlines, and Coca-Cola. As an artist, he creates digital images of our favorite natural and manmade locations in a distinctive, colorful, and vintage-inspired style. Herman is best known for his Landmark series, which he began in 2002. This series explores the lakes and rivers, culture and legends, urban architecture and popular vacation destinations across Minnesota, and beyond. His style is reminiscent of travel posters created by artists of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s, whose purpose was to promote travel during the Great Depression. His prints feature beloved locations such as Lake Superior, the North Shore, the Mississippi River, many of Minnesota’s favorite lakes, as well as images of popular parks, iconic buildings, boats, and bridges. And while he depicts recognizable regional landmarks like Split Rock Lighthouse and the State Capitol, he also makes an effort to show off some of the lesser known gems in the state, providing images for which everyone can make a deeper connection. Herman is sure to visit every site he portrays, “I like to make sure if I’m drawing something that I see it with my own eyes,” he says.
Mark Herman’s prints are modern and depict Minnesota as it is today, but are also reflective of the past, invoking a sense of nostalgia and a yearning for a day at the lake, a walk in your favorite park, or a childhood family vacation. The images selected for this exhibition focus on Minnesota (and one Wisconsin) landmarks in an effort to highlight the best that our region has to offer. With the current coronavirus outbreak, these images serve a purpose similar to the WPA posters of the Depression era. As travel restrictions keep some of us from vacations abroad or cross-country, we are looking to all that Minnesota has to offer right here at home. Herman’s bold, colorful and iconic imagery serves to connect us to our state, while highlighting everything it has to offer to visitors and newcomers.
