Biography
b. 1966
Ken Berman is a northern California self-taught outsider artist whose work combines the energy of the urban environment with the mechanics our modern age. Born in New Jersey, Ken’s journey as an artist began as an undergraduate studying architecture at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. where he was inspired by the raw energy and visual power of the old Bethlehem Steel Mills. As fate would have it, while studying to get his master’s degree, Ken was invited to a book-signing at Robert Rauschenberg’s home/studio in New York City in late 1989. This chance meeting gave Ken the opportunity to speak to Robert about his life as an artist and inspired him to pursue his own artistic vision centered on the theme of living a thoughtful, meaningful and balanced life in a very complicated and technologically sophisticated world.
When I first started painting and exhibiting my work it was generally described as a modern version of Rube Goldberg or Leonardo da Vinci with some Walter Tandy Murch thrown in for good measure. The reality is that I’ve always been fascinated by the workings of industrial objects (pipes, gears and widgets) and my work started to synthesize when I began to offset the imagery associated with the machine with more decorative imagery including stencils, typography and other items I create with my laser cutter (another machine).
Over the years Ken has won many awards for his work including First Place and Best of Show awards. He has also shown his work at the prestigious Sausalito Art Festival as well as ArtExpo New York and has had the honor of showing his work in several California museums including the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Crocker Museum in Sacramento and the Sonoma Valley Museum in Sonoma. In addition to showing his work nationally, he has also shown his work internationally at the Contemporary Venice 2019 show in Venice, Italy sponsored by Itsliquid.
Ken’s artwork is in many private collections throughout the world and is also included in the public collections of Keysight Technologies and Kaiser Permanente. He also has several artworks featured online with Amazon, Artbol, Art + Plus, Better Homes and Gardens, Frame To Wall, Great Big Canvas, Houzz, ICanvas, New Egg, Paro Wines, Posterazzi, Print Art and Walmart.
Lastly, Ken has also had several articles written about his art including The Woven Tale Press, Make Magazine, The West County Gazette, The Open Studio Press and the North Bay Bohemian.
Statement
Building forms and mechanical appurtenances have always interested me and are the primary inspiration for my work. Beginning as an undergraduate surrounded by the Bethlehem Steel Mills near Lehigh University and continuing over the last 30+ years, I have explored my own inner ‘factory’ by using a variety of painting and fabrication techniques including drafting, painting, glazing, wet-in-wet, laser cutting, lino cutting, etc. with the goal of creating a visual language and mythology that articulates my own theories of art and life.
“mechanical whimsy”
When I first started painting and exhibiting my work it was generally described as a modern version of Rube Goldberg or Leonardo da Vinci with some Walter Tandy Murch thrown in for good measure. The reality is that I’ve always been fascinated by industrial objects and machines and my work started to coalesce when I began to offset that imagery with stencils and other items I create with my laser cutter.
To me this yin-yang juxtaposition of iconography gives me the opportunity to visually express an important concept of living a meaningful and balanced life in a technologically sophisticated, complex and ever-changing world.
The industrial references are meant to represent the best and sometimes worst aspects of humanity including discipline, determination and loyalty and those references are timeless and exclude elements of race, gender and creed. The whimsical references are meant to represent the past, accentuate elements of time, struggle, effort, happiness or sadness and underscores the unpredictability and nature of life.
My work has been described as:
“A mysterious schematic for an extraterrestrial widget” - Colin Berry, Artweek
Schematic: Generalized diagram, plan, or scheme
Extraterrestrial: Outside or originating outside the limits of the earth
Widget: A small mechanical device whose name is not known or cannot be recalled
“Detailed industrial whimsy with oil-on-mixed-media canvases – featuring gears and gizmos adorned with the stenciled silhouettes of leafs, insects and animals. - David Templeton, Petaluma Argus Courier
What is Outsider Art?
Link to the Outsider Art Fair 2016 Paris website:
http://outsiderartfair.com/outsider_art
One of my largest collectors also collects the work of Jean Dubuffet amongst other notable contemporary artists. This got met thinking about what category or group my work belonged since I don’t fit in any art ‘tribe’. After additional research I came upon the website link above and found that in his 1947 manifesto, French artist and curator Jean Dubuffet coined the term art brut (aka Raw Art/Outsider Art) as follows: "We understand by this term works produced by persons unscathed by artistic culture, where mimicry plays little or no part (contrary to the activities of intellectuals). These artists derive everything...from their own depths, and not from the conventions of classical or fashionable art."
Education
Master of Architecture - New Jersey Institute of Technology - 1991
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture - Lehigh University - 1988
Miscellaneous
Licensed Architect - California - since 2001