ARTIST STATEMENT

BIOGRAPHY

Lanny Bergner is a mixed media sculptor, fiber, sculptural basketry and installation artist. Lanny receive d his BFA in sculpture from the University of Washington in 1981 and an MFA in sculpture from Tyler School of Art in 1983. Following graduation he worked for thirteen years in Philadelphia exhibiting on the East Coast and Midwest. In 1994 Lanny moved back to the Pacific Northwest and established a studio on Fidalgo Island. Since that time he has had numerous solo exhibitions and has amassed an extensive national and international exhibition record. His work is in several museum collections; including the Seattle Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Delaware Art Museum and the Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY. He has also received many awards; including 2 Pennsylvania Council on the Art Fellowships, the prestigious Betty Bowen Memorial Award sponsored by the Seattle Art Museum and an Artist Trust Craft Fellowship. In 2005 he received a gold prize at the 4th Annual Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju, Korea. In the fall of 2007 Lanny returned to Korea and created an installation titled, “Above Earth/Below Sky” at the Cheongju International Craft Biennale.
“By using hands on processes of coiling, fraying, twisting, wrapping, gluing and knotting, I transform common screening, wire, silicone, monofilament and glass frit into “other worldly” constructions. My aim is to bring the natural/artificial and man/nature together into an assemblage of forms that appear to have “grown into being”. The work is shaped by my fears, quirks and joys and ultimately celebrates the mystery and wonder of it all”.

EDUCATION

1983 -M.F.A in sculpture, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
1981 -B.F.A. in sculpture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

REPRESENTATION

Snyderman/Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
Jane Sauer Gallery, Sante Fe, NM
Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

SOLO EXHIBITS

2007 -Snyderman/Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
2007 -“Matrix”, Jane Sauer, Santa Fe, NM
2006 -“Entering Ether”, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
2006 -“Ether Space and Screen Works”, Shoreline Community College, Shoreline, WA
2003 -“From the Garden”, Bellevue Community College Gallery, Bellevue, WA
2003 -“Strange Fruit”, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2002 -“Dream Botanica”, A.N. Bush Gallery, Bush Barn Art Center, Salem, OR
2002 -“Phantasmagoria”, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
2002 -“Strange Fruit”, Port Angeles Fine Art Center, Port Angeles, WA
2001 -Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, WA
2001 -Corvallis Art Center, Corvallis, OR
1999/200 -“Un/Natural World”, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
02/96/93/91/88 -Gallery K, Washington DC
1993/91/88 -Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

GROUP EXHIBITS

2008 -Interlaced, Hoffman Gallery, College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
2008 -Beyond Boundaries, Contemporary Fiber Art, Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2007 -Cheers, A MAD Collection of Goblets, Museum of Art and Design, NY,NY
2007 -Finding Lost Values, 5th Annual Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Korea
2007 -Baskets as Architecture, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2007 -Mysteries Contained, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO (catalog)
2007 -A Survey of Baskets Today, Peters Valley Craft Center, Layton, NJ
2006 -Nature’s Matrix, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA
2006 -5th International Fiber Biennial, Snyderman/Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
2006-Basket R/Evolution, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
2005-Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Lieberman Collection, Arizona State
University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ (catalog) (traveling)
2005-A New World View, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
2005 -Hide and Reveal, 4th Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju-City, Korea
05’, 06’, 07' -SOFA NY and Chicago, represented by Snyderman-Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
2005 -Material Content: Basketry Sculpture in the 21st Century, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
2004 -Looking Forward, Glancing Back: NWDC at Fifty, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA.
Traveling to the Bellevue Art Museum and the Portland Craft Museum (catalog)
2004 -Basket Invitational, Snyderman-Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
2003 -Cheongju International Craft Biennale “Use”, Cheongju-city, Korea
2003 -CraftHouston 2003: National, Houston Center for Contemporary Art, Houston, TX
2002 -Jellies: Living Art, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA (catalog

ARTICLES

*Oct. 2007 “Lanny Bergner”, Southwest Art Magazine, Wolf Schneider *2007, “Entering Ether” DVD, Museum of Northwest Art, Inspiration Studios * 2006, University of Washington Press, Material Difference: Soft Sculpture and Wall Works, Polly Ullrich *Apr 2006, Odyssey Video, Contemporary Fiber Artists Maker Profiles, 52 minute DVD by Graham Eccles and Val Burnett *2006, Lark Books, 500 Baskets: A Celebration of the Basket maker’s Art, Susan Mowery Kieffer, Editor *2005, Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection, catalogue, ASU Art Museum, *Dec 24, 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Art objects that have some ‘basketry’ woven in, Edward Sozanski *2003, No.19 cover, CRART, Korean Craft and Art magazine *2002, Jellies, Living Art, catalog, Monterey Bay Aquarium

OTHER INFO

AWARDS AND GRANTS:
2005 -Gold Prize, 4th Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju-city, Korea,
2000 -Artist Trust GAP Grant, Sagourda Familia, Gourd Project, Artist Trust, Seattle, WA
1999 -Jurors’ Award, Annual NW International Art Comp., Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
1999 -Mary McIntyre-Gorrell Award, NW International Art Comp., Whatcom Museum
1997 -Artist Trust Crafts Fellowship, Artist Trust, Seattle, WA
1995 -Seventeenth Annual Betty Bowen Memorial Award, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
1991 -Visual Arts Fellowship, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Harrisburg, PA
1990 -Sculpture Prize, Contemporary Philadelphia Artists, Philadelphia Museum of Art

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:
-Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
-Museum of Northwest Art, LaConner, WA
-Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Cheongju-City, Korea,
-Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
-Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
-Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
-Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
-Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Gallery Affiliations:
Snyderman/Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, WA
Jane Sauer Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

SCHOOL INFO

1981 - 1983, University of Washington - Seattle
1981 - 1983, Tyler School of Art (Temple University)