Gerry Bergstein: Theory and Practice
On View: March 1 – 23, 2013
Reception: Friday, March 1, 6 – 8pm
Gerry Bergstein has long been recognized as one of the most influential painters in this region. Now, after a year-long sabbatical from teaching, his work has reached new heights.
Bergstein’s work has often been characterized by manic activity--a profusion of images, sometimes autobiographical; narrative incidents involving cultural icons from Freud to Mr. Rogers; agitated paint handling. In the past, his work has teetered between this activity and a tranquility beneath the surface. In the new work, this energy is on full display.
Gerry Bergstein
Gerry Bergstein has been widely considered one of the most influential painters in this region since the 1980s. Still, Bergstein’s penchant for producing eruptions of unexpected imagery is undiminished. His work teems with cascading figures plucked from art history and his own life. It’s a centuries-spanning reunion of Bergstein’s very extended family of relatives, friends, and figures he’s borrowed from the work of Jean-Leon Gerome, Rene Magritte, Max Beckmann, Vija Celmins, John Currin, Matt Groening and many, many others.