Simon Berger Swiss, b. 1976
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Simon Berger1234, 2023Laminated safety glass100 x 100 cm.
39.37 x 39.37 in. -
Simon Berger2568, 2023Laminated safety glass150 x 150 cm.
59.06 x 59.06 in. -
Simon Berger3428, 2023Laminated safety glass150 x 150 cm.
59.06 x 59.06 in. -
Simon BergerA Slice of Beauty, 2023Laminated safety glass
Installation of two panels with different details from Venus
2 pieces
100 x 100 cm each
39.37 x 39.37 in each -
Simon BergerBull, 2023Laminated safety glass100 x 100 cm
39.37 x 39.37 in -
Simon BergerCa WE Nova? , 2023Laminated safety glass
Glass stele with portrait of Canova
100 x 100 x 200 cm
39.37 x 39.37 x 78.74 in -
Simon BergerChrist, 2023Wood and laminated safety glasses200 x 200 cm.
78.74 x 78.74 in. -
Simon BergerPortraits (TV 4), 2023Laminated safety glass100 x 100 cm
39.37 x 39.37 in -
Simon BergerPortraits (TV 6), 2023Laminated safety glass100 x 100 cm
39.37 x 39.37 in -
Simon BergerThe Grace of Indipendence, 2023Laminated safety glass
Installation of three panels200 x 100 cm
78.74 x 39.37 in -
Simon BergerThe Highest Order Prevails Even in the Disintegration. The Totality is Present Even in the Broken Pieces, 2023Laminated safety glassFinal Installation
200 x 100 cm. each
78.74 x 39.37 in. each -
Simon BergerVirgin Mary, 2023Wood and laminated safety glasses200 x 200 cm.
78.74 x 78.74 in.
Born on April 9, 1976, in Switzerland.
Lives and works now in his own studio in Niederönz.
Artistic vision, technical skill and continuous innovation characterize Simon Berger’s creative practice. Pioneering an improbable method of working glass in a two-dimensional, figurative way, the Swiss artist literally breaks the laws of physics with a revolutionary approach to his medium of choice, thereby moving beyond the century-old convention of building and modelling vitreous matter. Contrary to this long-standing tradition, his is a form of anti-creation as the destructive gesture of mere blows of a hammer on a glass pane ultimately ‘draws’ images of great visual intrigue that emerge from the tangle of powerfully orchestrated cracks. By virtue of his unique sculptural language Simon Berger explores the depths of the material, striking the glass to liberate photorealistic ‘paintings’ from the presumed flatness of the surface. The vitreous canvas in this regard becomes both the supportive structure of his artwork, as well as the visualization of his artistic handwriting, while its transparency allows the artist to play with notions of an infinite beyond that assumes concrete form in the opacity of the breaks.
The closer and briefer the blows, the stronger the contrasts and the shades. In his hands, the hammer is no longer a tool of destruction, but rather an amplifier of effects. His lacerated ‘paintings’, incised in glass, transport the gaze into the tangles of cracks and creases which he refers to as ‘morphogenesis’.
Simon Berger began his artistic explorations by creating portraits with spray cans before turning to other media. A carpenter by training, his first sculptural works accordingly resulted from a natural attraction to wood. Drawn to different materials with their respective affordances and fostering a fascination with discarded items, the artist spent plenty of time experimenting with used vehicle bodies to create assemblages. It was while pondering what to do with a car windshield that his idea for working with glass was born. Following first attempts, he gradually perfected his unique technique of ‘incising’ images with a hammer, thereby turning the weakness of the material - its fragility and risk of breaking - into its greatest strength.
“Human faces have always fascinated me” Simon Berger explains his primary choice of subject. “On safety glass, they come into their own and magically attract the viewer. It is a process of discovery from abstract fogging to figurative perception.”
Of exceptional photorealistic allure, these portraits enthrall for their expressiveness, as if animated from within and resonating with life. With his work on windowpanes, the artist pushes creative boundaries and probes the expressive capabilities of inert materials destined for factories. His vitreous paintings challenge habits of seeing as the glass canvases become sites where visual perception is held in constant suspense by the deconstructing and reconstructing image. Glass, the most capricious of all media for artistic expression, acts as a place where the force of a unique sculptural gesture translates into depictions of mesmerizing appeal. From the controlled shattering of glass and its resulting fractures, art recalls its power of suscitating wonder and awe since through destruction, Simon Berger allows beauty to emerge.
Sandrine Welte
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SIMON BERGER | FACING GRACE
Musei Civici di Treviso - Casa Robegan 15 Dec 2023 - 11 Feb 2024Taking inspiration from Antonio Canova‘s revolutionary artistic work for the exhibition at the Musei Civici di Treviso, Simon Berger endeavours a new take on the complex oeuvre by the Italian sculptor whose importance and value for art continues to resonate today. In consideration of the intricate link between the city of Treviso and Canova’s birthplace in Possagno, Facing Grace engages with Canova‘s unique sculptural idiom by transposing his own aesthetic research into the human form to the repertoire of mythological narrative, studied in great detail by the Neoclassical artist.Read more -
THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION
Simon Berger 2 Jul - 17 Nov 2023THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION, the solo show of Swiss sculptor Simon Berger organized by Cris Contini Contemporary and Lo Studiolo d'Arte and curated by Sandrine Welte and Prof. Pasquale Lettieri on display at the Civic Museum of Sansepolcro from 2 July to 30 September 2023.Read more
LE PORTE DELLA PERCEZIONE, la mostra personale dello scultore svizzero Simon Berger organizzata da Cris Contini Contemporary e Lo Studiolo d'Arte curata da Sandrine Welte e dal prof. Pasquale Lettieri visitabile nel Museo Civico di Sansepolcro dal 2 luglio al 30 settembre 2023.
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Facing Grace | Simon Berger
Casa Robegan = Musei Civici Treviso Italy December 27, 2023Treviso sets the stage for grace and beauty with "Facing Grace", the innovative exhibition by Swiss artist Simon Berger organised by Cris Contini Contemporary in collaboration with the Municipality of Treviso in the spaces of Casa Robegan, Treviso Civic Museums. 15 DECEMBER 2023 - 11 FEBRUARY 2024Read more -
THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION
Simon Berger | Museo Civico Sansepolcro July 7, 2023Cris Contini Contemporary and Lo Studiolo d'Arte, present THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION, the solo show of Swiss sculptor Simon Berger curated by Sandrine Welte and...Read more