Thomas Berding
Thomas Berding's work continues his exploration of the seemingly endless sense of surplus that surrounds and defines many aspects of our contemporary existence. Drawing from conceptual and material structures and choices which linger beyond their intended use, in compelling fashion Berding’s recent paintings give vision to a world where new connections are constantly being forged and associations drawn. The layered and encrypted character of these conceptual beginnings is multiplied further by the artist’s use of stencils, collaged paint skins, and diverse paint handling. In the process, the boundary between an image and its means of fabrication is often exposed and the singular reference for any image dissolved or disrupted. The picture that results is of a world in a chronic state of being rebuilt and reimagined.
Thomas Berding was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and received a BA from Xavier University and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Berding’s paintings have been recognized with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and NEA/Mid America Arts Alliance. His work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at the University of Maine Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, and The Painting Center in New York. In October 2016, Oakland UniversityArt Gallery in metro Detroit mounted a survey of the last decade of Berding's work which was accompanied by a major catalog. Over his career, he has exhibited his work at many venues including the David Klein Gallery, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Rochester Institute of Technology, Indiana University, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Rhode Island School of Design Museum among many others. Thomas Berding currently lives and works in East Lansing where he is a Professor of Studio Art at Michigan State University.
