Biography/CV:
Ted Martin is a retired art educator and a North Dakota native. His drawings are traditional, mainly drawn in pen, marker, and crayon. Raised on a farm in Mott, ND, his art depicts what he was surrounded by: working men and animals.
He has amassed such a portfolio since retirement, it's best to share.
Select Displays and Recognitions:
Collection of The City of Fargo, ND - Fargo City Hall
Collection of The North American Bison Discovery Center
Collection of The State Historical Society of North Dakota
The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT studies
2025-Onward Rotating displays across Fargo businesses with The Arts Partnership of Fargo ArtWORKs
2026 The Plains Art Museum - Spring Gala: “Nightmare At The Museum”
2026 Taube Art Museum - “5th Annual Members Only Exhibition”
2026 Bradbury-Sullivan Queer Galleries - Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center - “Ted Martin - Solo Exhibition”
2026 North Dakota Museum of Art - NDMOA - “Limited Time Only”
2025 81st Annual BAGA Fall Art Show (Juror’s Choice for “Mule Deer, Waiting”)
2025 The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum - “66th Annual Midwestern Exhibition”
2024/2025 The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum - “Art Ghoullery” VII + VIII
2024 Solo Exhibitions at Mind Virus Counter-Culture Books & Media
2020/2021/2022 North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival (2020 Winner of Best Drawing for “Guns”)
2019 Honoring Stonewall Art Exhibition
2016 The Plains Art Museum: Art on the Plains XII
Contact:
Graphite57701@gmail.com and @Tedmartinart on Instagram
Artist Statement:
I grew up on the prairies. As a child, I drew chickens, horses, cattle, and women. Most of my adult years, twenties to fifties, I've lived close to nature, so I spent time drawing wildlife and men. I no longer live close to nature. Fargo is quite urban, and I am adapting my drawing subject matter to it. Models vary from those who have posed to support themselves financially to those simply seeking to fulfill a fantasy of living eternally within a drawing.
I'm old. I'm retired. Drawing is a hobby that keeps me sane.
Mostly, I use black pens, illustration alcohol markers, graphite, and, lately, wax crayons.
I've used crayons before, but more as a painting technique. I use crayons for coloring subjects and adding textures to the backgrounds of drawings, usually paired with textured foam printing with ink brushed on for a cloudy sky effect above figures.
My drawings are an expression of my interests…
My life as a gay man.
