Mike Berg, has been presenting his art in a diverse range of medium and techniques from acid etching, laser cut, water jet iron works as well as drawings, textiles and sculptures at Galeri Nev since 2003. In this show the artist will exhibit a single monumental sculpture. Working with the idea of a “Cage”, the current sculpture takes a different approach to a theme from his previous exhibition, Simple Geometry.
The process itself is the art to Mike Berg who describes his method of working as “starting with an idea or a set of rules for a procedure and seeing where it will go”. In this process he synthesizes the contrasting features of distinct cultures and historical cross sections with his personal art historical understanding. Through this sythesis he conceives his works that are determined both by calculations and chance, and makes an ironic attribution to future.
Independent of civilizations’ temporally and spatially established cultural structures – in other words with an infinite recollection; Berg strives to achieve a simplicity that reveals its own memory and essence by removing all his accumulations as the author. In that aspect, he chooses to convey his symbolic, semantic and contextual references indirectly rather than placing them centrally in his works. In his productive process the metaphysical susceptibilities come into play just as much as the physical circumstances.
From classical to contemporary, compositional elements in different genres of music such as the rhythm and harmony profoundly influence the form, color, texture and context of his works. Furthermore the variation of patterns enhanced by the interplay of light and shadow invites the viewers to perceive the peculiar coordination of emotion and logic; a sort of existance that has found its own rhythm beyond what seems as irregular and imbalanced.
Stanley Moss points out to the provocative question about whether art in its essence includes or excludes us: “Do we stand back in a passive posture, imagine ourselves caught within, or is this an invitation to touch?”
