Armin Mersmann‘s portrait-based drawings on display through today at Tarble Arts Center are often described as more realistic than photographs.

But these drawings go beyond the simple portrait, said Michael Watts, assistant dean for the College of Arts and Humanities.

“They all have a sort of edgy quality to it,” he said.

Mersmann will present a lecture at 7 p.m. today to discuss his artwork. An informal reception will follow the lecture and will close Mersmann’s exhibit.

Succeeding the reception, the artwork will be packed up for Mersmann to take with him.

Watts described Mersmann’s hyper-realistic artwork as having a psychological undertone.

“They’re not just pretty drawings,” Watts said. “They go way beyond that.”

He said Mersmann’s drawings are not straight portraits, but that they have something underlying.

“There’s a strong conceptual quality to the work behind the surface,” Watts said.

Mersmann, who was born in Remscheid, Germany, now resides in Michigan. He immigrated with his parents to the U.S. in 1962.

Mersmann, once a successful portrait artist in Chicago, now serves as museum school manager and exhibit preparatory for the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Arts and the Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, Mich.

His artworks have been shown in more than 150 exhibitions regionally, nationally and internationally.

Mersmann’s exhibition, titled “Drawing In Circles,” is currently on display in the Brainard Gallery in Tarble.

Admission is free and the public is invited.

While on campus today, Mersmann will also visit with studio art graduate students all day to critique their work. He will also meet with students on Friday to do a demonstration from one of his artworks.

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.

The Eastern men’s and women’s track and field team will continues its outdoor season at Indiana State this weekend.

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