Review (via ArtCritical): Color Theory: Siri Berg at Fiterman
Two installation shots of Siri Berg: Color Abstraction at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center, New York, 2016
Color Theory: Siri Berg at Shirley Fiterman Art Center
by Alex Markwith
November 17, 2016
Siri Berg: In Color, the retrospective of the Swedish-born veteran of hard-edge abstraction curated by Peter Hionas, opens November 17 at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Berg, who is a thriving and active artist now in her mid-90s, will also be the subject of a documentary set to premiere at Sundance Film Festival next Spring.
Like many artists, Berg tells me that she knew she wanted to be a painter when she was six years old. She attended the School of Art and Architecture at the University of Brussels before deciding, at 19, that she would move to New York. She has occupied her SoHo loft since 1981.
The artist likens her process to “a child playing with blocks.” This apt comparison doesn’t tell the whole story, however, as her working method is anything but childlike. She follows a regimented practice in which she might produce ten studies before approaching a canvas. She still mixes her own colors. When looking at Berg’s paintings, one sees that there is an underlying algebra, which the artist applies using equations of her own invention, forging new territory within her resolute geometric vocabulary.
