Not a cloud in the sky: A meditation on the life ideal

May 20 – June 18, 2011**

Modified Arts presents Melinda Bergman’s multi-media meditation on “the life ideal” in the exhibition Not a cloud in the sky. Using a colorful blend of painting, collage, sculpture, and installation, Bergman envisions a playful yet deliberate environment evoking the duality of life’s mysteries, forces of symmetry, and a teetering balance between a sense of security and instability.

The tactile, colorful, and sometimes decorative materials Bergman uses in her work belie the sober themes and issues she addresses throughout the immersive exhibition. Stacks of eclectic, handmade tables rise towards the ceiling, balancing precariously as they reach a pinnacle of doll-sized constructions. An Alice in Wonderland-like illusion, the tables, brightly colored curtains of beads, paintings, pinwheels, and collaged paper drawings merge tension and childlike wonder, creating an ambiguity that draws the viewer in without ever forgoing the nagging sense of warning suggested in the imagery.

The site-specific installation’s focus on balance and duality is something Bergman explores in much of her work. As in a previous exhibition at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, “Bergman (who lives in Phoenix) evokes nature, kitsch and modern science simultaneously. Her meandering world at first glance may seem light-hearted. From behind this whimsical facade, Bergman asks tough questions about the psychology of contemporary life and the sorry state of the natural world.”

Melinda Bergman graduated in 1996 from Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts & Design, in Stockholm, Sweden with an MFA in painting and sculpture. In 1997 she spent a year as a resident at the International Artist Studio Space in Stockholm (IASPIS). She has exhibited her work in Sweden and Scandinavia, in Färgfabriken, Index and museums in the north and south, the Dumbo Art Center in Brooklyn, and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA).

In the front room…

Opening Reception: Third Friday, May 20 6-9pm

Gallery Hours: Thursday-Saturday 12-6pm, First Friday 6-9pm through June 18th. Summer and Fall hours TBA.

** Not a Cloud in the Sky is the final exhibition from director Kim Larkin

Read the press release: https://modifiedarts.org/gallery/press-release.html