Jud Bergeron: New Morning

Jud Bergeron’s New Morning exhibition is both a survey of ideas the artist has been exploring for the past five years and an introduction of new techniques and mediums born in quarantine. Bergeron’s work tends to be formal in its execution, composition, and presentation, and at the same time conveys a feeling of playful hopefulness. Beginning in March 2020 the uncertainty was palpable and, in addition to the mounting health fears of the global pandemic, there were existential creative fears as well. Bergeron wondered, “Does the work even matter anymore?” After weeks of trying to make sense of the chaos, he went to the studio and, with limited access to materials, made do with what he had–clay and a well appointed silk screen studio. Bergeron spent the next few months making ceramics and experimenting with glazes and, for the artist, it was a liberating feeling to simply explore materiality and process.

As a sculptor, Bergeron was more interested in developing techniques in screen printing that were more immediate and did not involve the use of a computer. He began with a series of simple geometric drawings that were rooted in composition and flow. He then cut these shapes out of a Mylar material called rubylith and burned them directly onto screens for printing. He kept going back to the drawings, imagining how they would translate to relief sculpture. These drawings ended up as the basis for the sculptural series Cyclopean Runways. “I needed to feel happy and hopeful. I needed to develop new techniques to combat the isolation, I needed to grow,” say Bergeron. “My hope is that this new work fits nicely alongside the work I have been making and is a natural progression.”

Bergeron took most of the summer off and traveled up and down the coast of California with his family. “There was a closeness and a connection with them that seemed more special than other family trips,” he says. “We were all we had and we knew it. I will always look back on that summer as a gift and it gave my spirit hope.” As the extreme fear of the unknown began to somewhat subside, he began to invite artists back to The Space Program SF, an artist residency in San Francisco that he co-founded. He began ramping up their silk screen studio with his colleague Brian VonBargen. Having never silk screened, Bergeron thought it his duty to understand the process to better assist their residents, so VonBargen began teaching Bergeron and the results are the series Ideas for Bright Ideas.

Bergeron’s sculptures are created by hand through a process of cutting and fitting paper. They are meditations on form created through a stream of consciousness process. Using color in the paper pieces as a device to create the perception of perfection; the eye sees color and form and fills in any “mistakes.”

Once the pieces are created physically they are scanned into 3D models through a computer to remove all memory of the artist’s hand. The works are then 3D printed where perfection becomes blurred during the printing process. Each piece is sanded to remove the digital fingerprint, before creating molds using the lost wax process for bronze casting. Through this very laborious process, Bergeron aims to examine the alchemic transformation from analog to digital and back again, constantly exploring how the influence of new technology might change his work.

The artist will be present at the gallery on select Saturdays from 1pm to 3pm throughout the course of the exhibition to meet visitors.

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