Works by Emily Berger
Berger works with oil paint on wood panels. She layers paint in gestural, horizontal swaths from left to right, stacking the horizontal bands from top to bottom of the surface. An interplay of complementary colors creates a sense of push pull, endowing her compositions with nuanced luminosity. Scraping and scumbling the layers of paint, Berger gives her paintings a textured, painterly, material presence.
She describes her method as being in the tradition of Abstract Expressionism—as if an event is taking place in the arena of the painting. Her approach, however, is quite controlled.
Berger is inspired by the conversation that emerges as she works between the known and unknown. She approaches her paintings like a form of writing, applying rhythmic, deliberate marks from left to right.
Berger has exhibited internationally in numerous galleries and museums.
Her work is included in numerous private and public collections, including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Drawings and Prints, New York; Museum of Modern Art, Library Special Collection, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art Library; Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; and the Delaware Art Museum, among others.