Gerry Bergstein
Artist Bio Artist Work
Bergstein's work contrasts the awesome and the trivial, the high and the low, the manic and the melancholic using sources from Brueghel to "The Simpsons." He is the recipient of an Artadia grant (2007), a career achievement award from the St. Botolph Club (2007), and a four-week residency at the Liguria Study Center in Genoa, Italy (2006). His solo shows include Gallery NAGA and the Danforth Museum (scheduled for 11/09); Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston ('04, '02, '99, '97); Stephan Stux Gallery, NY ('99); Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland; Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL; and the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. He is represented in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; MIT; DeCordova Museum; Davis Museum at Wellesley College; IBM; and many others. He has been reviewed widely in the local press as well as Tema Celeste, ARTnews, Art in America, and Artforum. He has been on the faculty at the
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for over two decades.
Education
1971 The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in affiliation with Tufts University: M.F.A. Painting
1969 The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in affiliation with Tufts University: B.F.A. Painting Cum Laude
1963-64 Clark University, Worcester, MA
Teaching Experience
1982 Present School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Full-time permanent Painting Faculty: Teaching undergraduate and graduate students
Editing and Writing
1997-2002 Art Editor of AGNI Literary Journal
Selected Guest Teaching and Lectures
2006
Fine Arts Work Center/ Massachusetts College of Art Low Residency MFA Program; Visiting Artist
2004
Milton Academy, Milton, MA; Melissa Dilworth Gold Visiting Artist Series
2003
Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA
2000
Wellesley College, Visiting artist
1999
Dartmouth College Visiting Artist
1994
Massachusetts College of Art
1990
List Visual Arts Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA
1989
Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1987
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1984
Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
Selected Collections
Addison Museum of American Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
MIT
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University
Davis Museum, Wellesley College
Arkansas Center for the Arts
First National Bank of Boston
Fideliity
IBM
Polaroid Corporation
Prudential Life Insurance Company
Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
The Residency Collection, Roswell, NM
Wellington Management, Boston
Palmer and Dodge, Boston
Boston Public Library
Alan Stone Gallery, NY
Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
Stux Gallery, NY
The Boston Athenaeum
Awards and Grants
2020
Mass. Cultural Council Grant
2007
The Saint Botolph Club Foundation Award
Artadia Find for the Arts Award
2006
The Liguria Study Center; One Month Fellowship/Residency, Genoa, Italy
2003
The Gottlieb Foundation - Individual Support Grant ($20,000)
2001
Liguria Study Center Fellowship, The Bogliasco Foundation, Genoa, Italy
1993
Camargo Foundation, Artist in Residence Grant; Cassis, France
1992
NEFA/ NEA - Regional Painting Grant
1988
School of the Museum of Fine Arts- Alumni Traveling Fellowship
1985
Massachusetts Artists Foundation- Fellowship in Painting
1983
Berkshire Museum Painting and Sculpture Exhibit- First Prize awarded by Patterson Sims, Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art
1981
Massachusetts Artists Foundation- Fellowship in Painting, School of the Museum of Fine Arts- Traveling Fellowship
1978
Massachusetts Artists Foundation- Fellowship in Painting
1976
Massachusetts Artists Foundation- Finalist in Painting
1973
Roswell Museum- Artist in Residence Grant
1971
School of the Museum of Fine Arts- Travelling Fellowship
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Gallery Naga, Boston
2020
Gallery Naga, Boston, MA
2018
Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury, VT
2017
Maude Morgan Art Center, Cambridge, MA
2016
Stux Gallery, N.Y., NY
Naga Gallery
2013
Gallery NAGA, Boston
2012
Joel and Lila Hartnet Museum of Art; Richmond, VA; "Start to Finish: Seven Stages of "Apex" by Gerry Bergstein
2009
Gallery NAGA; Boston
The Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA
2007
St Gaudens National Historic Site; Cornish, NH (Two-person show with Gail Boyajian)
2006
Gallery Naga, Boston, MA
2005
The St. Botolph Club (2-person show with Gail Boyajian), Boston, MA
2004
Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
2003
Clark University, Worcester, MA
2002
Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
1999
Stephan Stux Gallery, New York, NY
Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
1997
Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
1996
Sesnon Gallery, University of California at Santa Cruz (two-person show)
1994
Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
1992
Thomas Segal Gallery, Boston, MA
1991
Stux Gallery, New York, NY
1990
Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
1989
Thomas Segal Gallery, Boston, MA
“The Surrealism of Everyday Life,” DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
1987
Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
1986
Stux Gallery, New York, NY
1985
Stux Gallery, Boston, MA
1984
University Art Galleries, Wright State University, Dayton, OH
1983
Zolla /Leiberman Gallery, Chicago IL
Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
Alan Stone Gallery, New York, NY
Stux Gallery, Boston, MA
1981
Lopoukhine/Nayduch Gallery, Boston, MA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015
Steven Zevitas Gallery; Group show of artists who love Philip Guston
2014
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2008
Mills Gallery At Boston Center For The Arts, Boston MA; “Artadia”
Clark Gallery; Lincoln, MA
2006
Lascono Gallery; Great Barrington, MA; "The Boston Ten"
Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Steven Score Gallery, Boston, MA
2005
Judy Goldman Fine Art; "Arbor"
2004
"More Than One- Prints and Portfolios from the Center Street Studio; Cantor Gallery; Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA
"Seeing Is Believing" New Britain Museum of American Art: New Britain, CT
"Self Evidence"; The DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
"New Works", The Danforth Museum; Framingham, MA
2003
Selections From The Collection, The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
"Double Take"; The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
The Armory Show; (Stux Gallery Booth), NY
"Prints and Portfolios From the Center Street Studio, Boston; Wiegland Gallery; Notre Dame De Namur University; Belmont, CA
2002
"Painting in Boston l950-2000"; DeCordova Museum; Lincoln, MA
2001
"A Family Portrait" AVA Gallery, Lebanon, N.H.
"Cuatro Grandes"; New England School of Art; Boston, MA
2000
"Recent Acquisitions"; The DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
"Figure, Fantasy and Illusion"; The Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA
"Visual Memoirs", The Rose Museum, Brandeis University; Waltham, MA
1998
"American Artists on Paper", Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
"Invitational" Stux Gallery, New York, NY
"Great Buys: Recent Acquisitions from the Permanent Collection", DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1997
"Images of Man", Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
"Attributes of the Artist", Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
"Recent Acquisitions", DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1996
"Exactitude", Forum Gallery, New York, NY
"The Art of Baseball", Polk Museum, Lakeland, FL
1995
"Collections", Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
"Recent Acquisitions", DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
"The Residency Collection", Roswell, NM
1994
"Fantastic and Imaginative Art", Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
1992
"12th Annual Boston Drawing Show", Boston Center for the Art
“OnPaper", Frumkin-Adams Gallery, New York
1991
"The Next Ten Years", Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Boston Center for the Arts Drawing Exhibition, Invitational
"Mapping", DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
1990
"Une Touche Suisse", Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland
"Sixth Triennial Exhibition", Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, Montreal-Boston, Exchange Exhibition
"Satellite Intelligence", La Jolla Art Museum, La Jolla, CA, and MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
1989
"The Unquiet Landscape: Recent Expressionist and Fantasy Landscape Paintings", Arts Club of Chicago and Frumkin/Adams Gallery, New York, NY
1988
"Summer Review", Stux Gallery, Boston, MA
"Travelling Scholarship Exhibition". School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1987
"Diamonds are Forever", Albany State Museum, Albany, NY (travelled nationwide)
"Miniatures", Stux Gallery, Boston, MA
"Illusion in Art: Perception/Description/Deception" Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, MA
1986
"Boston Collects", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
"Landscape Observed/Imagined", Alan Frumkin Gallery, New York, NY
"Insight: A Look at the Development of Six Boston Artists", North Hall Gallery, Mass. College of Art, Boston, MA (curated by David Bonetti)
"Expressionism in Boston: 1945-1985" DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
"Inaugural" Stux Gallery, New York, NY
"Contemporary Still Life", Rathbone Gallery, Alabama
1984
"Major Paper Works", Stux Gallery, Boston, MA
"12 on 20 by 24: Large Format Polaroids", Museum School Art Gallery, Boston, MA
"Disarming Images: Art for Nuclear Disarmament" (toured USA 1984-1986), Brockton, MA
1983
"Five Boston Artists", Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
"Painting and Sculpture Exhibition", Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
"Boston Now", Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
1982
"Gallery Artists", Stux Gallery, Boston, MA
"Artists for Nuclear Disarmament", Van Buren/ Brazelton, Cambridge, MA
1981
"Traveling Fellowship Exhibition", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Alan Stone Gallery, New York, NY
1978
"Art of the State", Boston University, Boston, MA
Selected Bibliography
Allara, Pamela
Expressionism in Boston: 1945-1985 (exhibition catalogue) DeCordova Museum of Art, Lincoln, MA "The Scope of Boston Art is Broader than it Would Appear", Art News, November, 1981, "Boston Review", Art News January, 1979 "Boston Expressionism Today" Art New England October 1985 6:10 p.6
Baker, Kenneth
"Boston Now" Boston Phoenix, June, 1983 "Figurative Languages" Boston Phoenix May, 1982
Banks, Gail
"Six Boston Artists Who Are About To Make it Big" Boston Magazine May, 1983
Belz, Carl
"Visual Memoirs", Exhibition catalogue, 2000
Bergstein, Gerry
"It's About Freedom" Art New England 6/01
Bonetti, David
"Making the Center Hold" The Boston Phoenix April 7, 1989 , "Art: Brockton Now" Boston Phoenix June 26, 1987 "Gerry Bergstein" Art News February, 1986 p. 109, "Art" Boston Phoenix November 1985 "Unstonewalling Jackson and Other Adventures In The Gallery Trade", Boston Phoenix November 9, 1985 p. 5,10
Chiapella, Julie;
"New Artist Featured at Sesnon" Santa Cruz Sentinal; 2/7/97
Freeman, Nan
"Bergstein at Stux Gallery" Art New England May 1983
Gorden, Peter
"Diamonds are Forever", (exhibition catalogue) New York State Museum, Albany, NY 1987
Guiliano, Charles
"Gerry Bergstein" New York Arts 5/02
"Gerry Bergstein" Art New England April, 1992
Hill, Shawn
"Gerry Bergstein" Art New England 6/02
Klaric, Arlette
"Contemporary Art of Visual Deception in New England: Social and Aesthetic Perspectives" Illusion in Art (exhibition catalogue) Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, MA 1987
Hopkins, Randi " Editor's Picks- Whrer the Art Is" The Boston Phoenix, 12/23/05
Koslow, Francine
"Gerry Bergstein" ArtForum Summer, 2002
"Gerry Bergstein" Artforum April 1992 "Gerry Bergstein: A Self-Confessed Couch Potato" Artforum February 1990 "Gerry Bergstein" Art New England July 1996
Lafo Rachel
1989 "The Surrealism of Everyday Life" Exhibiition catalogue for one person show
2002 "Painting in Boston From 1950-2000; Exhibiiton Catalogue
2004 "Self Evidence: Identity in Contemporary Art
Lloyd, Ann Wilson
"Gerry Bergstein",Art in America, July 1995
Loveless, Natalie, Big Red and Shiny; 5/04; Gerry Bergstein at Howard Yezerski
McFadden, Sarah
"Report From Boston" Art in America, May 1983
McQuaid, Cate
"Exhibit Showcases Studios Exploration Of The Art Of The Print
The Boston Globe ; 10/24/04
""John O'Reilly: Panoramas and Gerry Bergstein New Paintings "
"The Best of 2002" The Boston Globe 12/29/02
"Self Portraits of an Artist Facing Mortality" The Boston Globe, 4/19/02
"Depth and Illusion-Varieties of Abstract Space" The Boston Globe 10/29/98
"Gerry Bergstein: New Paintings; The Boston Globe 11/18/99
"Gerry Bergstein's fruit bears illusions" Boston Globe May 1, 1997
Melnyczuk, Askold ; Editor ; "Gerry Bergstein" Arrowsmiith Press; 2006
Miller, Sue, Editor
"The Passage of Time" Ploughshares, Fall 1993.
Gerry Bergstein
Millis, Christopher,
"North by Northwest Goodies at the DeCordova and
Fitchburg"The Boston Pheonix; 3/5/04
"Gallery Blossoms"; The Bosotn Pheonix 4/045
Poloner, Palmer
"Bergstein at Allan Stone Gallery" Artspeak June 1983.
Ross, David
Boston Now (exhibition catalogue) Institute of Contemporary Art Boston MA 1983.
Ruescher, Scott
"Starlight and Sketchpad" Arts Editor; 12/99
Runnqvist, Jan
"Une Touche Suisse" Galerie Bonnier 1961-1991" (exhibition catalogue) Geneva, Switzerland 1991
Silver, Joanne
"Painter Brings Life To Portraits of Decay" The Boston Sunday Herald February 2, 1992. "Exhibit surveys the artist's landscape" Boston Herald May 2, 1997
"Contemporary Self-Portraits Ech Life Views At De Cordova"
Sims, Patterson
Berkshire Art Association 1983 Painting and Sculpture Exhibition (exhibition catalogue) Berkshire Art Museum, Pittsfield, MA 1983.
Stange, Eric
"Greater Boston Arts -Expessionism in Boston" WGBH Telivision 11/24/02
Stapen, Nancy
"Disquieting Images of Another World" The Boston Globe January 23, 1992. "Inside Bergstein's Imaginings" Boston Sunday Herald April 9, 1989. "Gerry Bergstein" Artforum February 1986 p. 109. "Show Marks Turning Point for Artists" Boston Herald November 1985. "Boston Now: Figuration" Art New England, June, 1982. "Young Artists Shine" Boston Herald July 25, 1985.
"10th Boston Now" The Boston Globe June 20, 1991 "Gerry Bergstein at Howard Yezerski" Art News October 1997
Stebbins, Theodore
"Boston Collects"(exhibition catalogue) Boston Museum of Fine Arts,1987
Sussman, Elizabeth
Boston Now: Figuration (exhibition catalogue) Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA 1982 "Strange Friut, Gerry Bergstein (exhibition catalogue) Stux, New York 1986.
Tarlow, Lois
"Alternative Space: Gerry Bergstein" Art New England June 1985
Taylor, Robert
"An Adroit Balance of Manic and Austere" Boston Sunday Globe April 2, 1989 "Boston Now: Figuration" The Boston Globe, May 1982 "Illusion in Art Review" Boston Globe.
Temin, Christine
"Fink, Bergstein Refine Their Styles" The Boston Globe April 20, 1989. "Bergstein's Dance Macabre on Canvas"The Boston Globe March 1983
Unger, Miles
"Gerry Bergstein at Howard Yezerski Gallery" Art New England February-March 1995
Zevitas, Seven
"New American Paintings A Juried Exhibition in Print" 1998
"New American Paintings A Juried Exhibtion in Print" 2000