ART ON VIEW
Gerry Bergstein and Gail Boyajian: Uncovered
at Catamount Arts in Saint Johnsbury
August 25-October 27, 2018
Artist reception: Saturday, September 22, 5-7PM
“Gerry Bergstein and Gail Boyajian: Uncovered” is an exhibition of painting, drawing, mixed media, assemblage and sculpture.
This exhibition of work by two closely related, yet different artists explores growing concern over threats to the human psyche and our natural environment. Gerry Bergstein’s paintings excavate the cavernous tomb of art historical knowledge, unearthing sources of creativity buried within the detritus of dried paint and other material piling up on the studio floor. Bergstein’s work is a synthesis of themes he’s been dealing with over his decades long career–vanitas and decay, mortality and the many paradoxes of meaning he uncovers during the act of painting. Delighting in unpredictable relationships set within apocalyptic landscapes, Bergstein explores the “deepening resonance between process, image, history and style.”
Gail Boyajian envisions an apocalypse of a different sort, one that has already occurred. Her installation of sculpture depicting extinct birds evokes her childhood desire to become a naturalist and artistically interprets what has been lost because of the human impact on our environment. Birds are one of our most fragile species; their demise raises the alarm of an imminent danger and has long been a subject of Boyajian’s art. These sculptures of extinct birds were created using shreds of The New York Times (which only uses biodegradable, soy-based ink), but nevertheless carry seeds of another kind of destruction–in the traces of text about current events that are still visible to the naked eye.
(adapted from the venue’s press materials)
INFORMATION
Catamount Arts
115 Eastern Avenue
St. Johnsbury 05819
(802) 748-2600
Hours:
Monday-Saturday, 11AM-8PM
Sunday, 1-8PM
Image: (top)
Top
by Gerry Bergstein
19″x30″
mixed media
2017
Image: (center)
Dodo
from “Looking for the Ark” series
by Gail Boyajian
sculpture
Images courtesy of the artists