STUX + HALLER is pleased to announce the opening of Gerry Bergstein: (Un)timely Entanglements, a solo
exhibition of paintings selected from 1988 to 2015.
Bergsteinʼs primarily oil paintings exist in the boundary space between making and unmaking; one is consistently
unsure of the direction of his motions/emotions. Bergstein creates highly detailed maximalist constructions whose
physical locations are only minimally implied. At close range, his works pull viewers into a whirlwind of art historical
and cultural references, leaping from Masaccio to Matisse to Guston to Mr. Rogers.
As one distances oneself from the work, an energetic harmony consumes; the experience is reminiscent of a
panoramic view of an ancient metropolis. At this farther range, the hues of the details neutralize; the abstract
expressionist drips converge with the rest of narrative time, and all becomes united in a single plane.
In his newest 2015 series, Bergstein stylistically builds upon the foundations of collage and photomontage; he
begins with references from his personal present and travels to the collective art historical. Bergstein photographs
self-fabricated white paint drips dried onto his studio floor, then digitally integrates these abstract narratives onto his
backgrounds. He finishes his constructions with often heavily impastoed hand-painted details and paper
embellishments.
In Babel 2015 (pictured above), Bergstein elaborates on the traditions initiated by Velasquez and Courbet by
including a painted self-portrait of himself painting. This insertion furthers considerations about the role and context
of the artist, and specifically the painter, in contemporary culture.
Since 1981, Bergstein has had a great many solo exhibitions of his paintings in New York City, the Greater Boston area, and elsewhere.
Bergsteinʼs work resides in many internationally renowned collections including that of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, The Addison Gallery of American Art, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The
Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, and the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. He is the recipient of an Artadia Grant, a career
achievement award from the St. Botolph Club, and a residency at the Liguria Study Center in Genoa, Italy. He has been reviewed in
numerous major publications, including Artforum, Art in America, and ARTnews. Bergstein is Professor Emeritus of Painting at his Alma
Mater, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, having taught undergraduate students since 1982 and MFA candidates since 1990.