About Simon Berson

Artist Statement
It’s a process. The drawing/collages begin with a series of organic shapes (the primary component parts), which are assembled and interlocked into an aesthetically pleasing overall superstructure. Technical illustrations and photos from technical journals, chosen for color and texture, are added as necessary for balance and contrast.
The observer puzzles over the resultant images that combine organic and inorganic forms. Which is why I call it “Industrial Surrealism”. Do these images depict a kind of machine, or an alien landscape? In either case, the work invokes a thoughtful response..
Biography
Simon Berson is a native New York state artist known for his expressive, figurative wire sculptures and his more abstract engineered assemblages, and collages of drawings mixed with found images and hardware components.
Simon “draws” with ease in three-dimensional space, with wire as his ink. The thin metal strands lightly mark and bind empty space for the viewer to fill with their own imagination. Long, graceful lines accentuate his wire figures’ sense of motion. Leaping ballerinas and swinging athletes are among the human forms captured in cresting, snapshot moments of weightlessness or impact.
Growing up as a kid in Washington Heights, there wasn’t much extra money for toys. But we did have pipe cleaners with which to free our imaginations and explore and play like kids should play — with total unscripted abandon, free from the confines of predetermined toys. I used to skip school and spend days at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Modern Art and the Guggenheim museums. The influence of Tanguy, Ducahamp, Picasso, Calder, Kandinski, Nevelson, Bontecue, and many others, is apparent in my work. After spending 30 years as a technical writer/illustrator, and raising five children, I am free to create on a full time basis.
The collage/mixed media all begins with a series of organic drawings (the component parts), which are then assembled into an overall superstructure on a substrate. Technical illustrations/photos from technical journals, are added as necessary. It’s an industrial process that relies on serendipity, and my aesthetics. The observer puzzles over the resultant images that combine organic and inorganic forms. Which is why I call it “Industrial Surrealism”. Do these images depict a kind of machine, or an alien landscape? In either case, the work invokes a thoughtful response.
The wire-based sculptures, an outgrowth of childhood pipe cleaners, is simply drawing in three dimensions and/or using the wire to interconnect various found objects into a coherent whole. I also incorporate screws, nuts and bolts as required to stabilize the structure. Some pieces also have internal lighting incorporated within*.
* Note: Not UL approved.

Simon’s Education & Employment History
Education
Pratt Institute — 1972 Fairleigh Dickinson University, BFA (Magna cum Laude) 1977
Employment History
2016~2019: Ferrari/Berson Studios, Las Vegas, NV and Fort Lauderdale FL
2002~2013: Crestron Electronics, Inc., 15 Volvo Drive, Rockleigh, NJ
1999~2002: Telcordia Technologies, Piscataway, NJ
1998~1999: Metropolitan Life, Madison Ave, New York, NY.
1997~1998: Ernst & Young, Carlstadt, NJ
1980~1997: Sharp Electronics Inc., Sharp Plaza, Mahwah, NJ
1972~1980: Minolta, Ramsey, NJ
1969~1972: Heathkit, Fairlawn, NJ
1966~1969: USAF

Selected Exhibition History
Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibition New York, NY (1970-1972)
Salmagundi Club, NY (1972)
Bergen County Chamber of Commerce, Paramus, NJ (1973)
Art in the Park, Montclair, NJ (1973)
Burlington County Hospital, Burlington, NJ (1974)
The Red Barn Gallery. Ridgewood, NJ (1975)
Gallery Elizabeth, Chicago, IL (1977)
International Sculpture Exhibition, Boston MA (1978)
Rene’s Gallery, Soho, NY (1980-1984)
Sharp Electronics Corp. Mahwah, NJ (1982 – 1990)
Crestron Electronics, Inc. (1999-2012)
The Red Eft Gallery, Wurtsboro, NY (2002)
Art in the Park, Hillsdale, NJ (2003)
The Star Gallery, Middletown, NY (1999 – 2003)
The Stray Cat Gallery, Bethel, NY (2012)
The Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY (2013)
The River Tree Gallery, Kennebunkport, ME (2014)
The Cooper-Finn Gallery, Millbrook, NY (2015)
Maryland Fine Arts (Circle Gallery) Anna