Phil Bergerson | Sublime Encounters

Exhibition Dates: March 14 – April 18, 2009

Reception for the Artist: Saturday, March 14, 1-5pm

The gallery is pleased to announce our fifth exhibition by Canadian Phil Bergerson featuring his most recent work “Sublime Encounters”.

Spanning the last fifteen years, Phil Bergerson has traveled extensively across the United States, photographing cities both small and large. His last series, “Shards of America,” was an ironic commentary on the culture of the United States. It harnessed the best of documentary traditions, interweaving a selection of powerful themes to present a critical examination of America’s rich social landscape. In his most recent body of work, “Sublime Encounters,” Bergerson continues his investigations of cultural detritus of everyday life but with a more poetic approach. He is interested in exploring the complexities of what it is to be human with less emphasis on the American experience.

Bergerson’s photographs are poignant records of the beauty of ‘organic’ installations, small moments created through a mixture of human intent, nature’s intervention, time and his own curiosity. The photographs document that which people consciously and unconsciously leave behind - that which speaks about them as individuals. Often the residue of these elements is so subtle that detection is difficult. “Sublime Encounters” refers to the awe inspiring moments of recognition that a photographer experiences when contemplating sets of relationships that suddenly becomes deeply and clearly “seen”. Bergerson’s images transcend the viewer’s vision of our urban landscape by presenting us with an original perspective that is consistently moving and entirely unforgettable.

Bergerson has photographed for over 30 years. His work has been exhibited internationally and is found in many prestigious collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa. His photographs have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Toronto Life and Walrus Magazine, and his book, Shards of America, was published in September 2004. From 1975 to 2007, Bergerson was a professor of photography at Ryerson University in Toronto where, amongst other community initiatives, he established and organized the annual international "Kodak Lecture Series" on photography.