New London artist Lisa Bergh the first to be highlighted at Minneapolis Institute of Art

Shelby Lindrud, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·4 min read

Jan. 3—MINNEAPOLIS

— In a 2,500-square-foot exhibit space within the halls of the

Minneapolis Institute of Art

, where masterpieces of human creation from throughout history come together, visitors will be able to enjoy the emotion, feel and color of Greater Minnesota. This is thanks to New London-based artist

Lisa Bergh

and the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program from the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

"The (Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program) exhibition opportunity was a profoundly important experience for my ongoing artistic growth," Bergh said in an email to the West Central Tribune. "I was given the resources and space to increase the scale and scope of my recent investigations into materiality, structure, light and shadow."

Bergh's exhibit, titled "Topography," is on display in the U.S. Bank Gallery through Feb. 25, 2024.

"The exhibit explores sense memory and the ephemeral experience of place," Bergh said. "It is an ode to my sensual, aesthetic relationship to rural Minnesota."

Bergh moved to New London from Milwaukee in 2005

with her husband, Andrew Nordin, and their young son. In 2009, the couple welcomed a daughter. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography and printmaking from the University of Arizona and a Master of Fine Arts in spatial arts from San Jose State University. She has worked continuously as an artist in addition to being an arts administrator, curator and educator.

"I will never stop refining and building on my ideas and skills," Bergh said.

Bergh showcases that relationship with her home through abstract paintings and sculptures created from a unique medium. The paintings are created using pieces of brightly colored plastic sheeting that is cut, stitched and stretched together, while her sculptures use forms of plastic and vinyl.

"I use the language of abstraction in my work. Some of the pieces start with a more literal idea of place, while the two-dimensional works and tapestries are less specific," Bergh said. "I am always working to find the right balance of play between form, concept, intuition, intention, experience, surprise."

The pieces attempt to capture the feel of the rural landscape with color and light. The oranges, pinks, blues and grays used in the pieces hearken back to the colors found in the environment from the blaze orange of a hunter's vest to the grays of grain silos. The sculptural work in the exhibit tells the same story, but in a more three-dimensional way.

"It really calls forth these elements that we take for granted when you live in rural Minnesota," said Nicole Soukup, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. "Rural Minnesota is as vibrant a place, as constructed a place, as the Twin Cities. Instead of skyscrapers, there are corn silos; instead of parking lots, it's soybeans."

Bergh was chosen by a jury of her peers to exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art through the Minnesota Artist program. The Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, is open to all emerging and mid-career artists who live and work in Minnesota. The program provides each artist $13,500 to put on their show and can help them step up in their career.

"I am profoundly grateful to Mia for awarding me with an MAEP exhibition," Bergh said.

It can be a big deal for young artists and art lovers across the state to see and experience art created by their neighbors and community members. Soukup herself remembers the first time she saw such an exhibit as a college student.

"It was a revelatory experience," Soukup said. "To see artists that look like me who had similar backgrounds. It is an important thing to do and see."

The Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program also helps Mia showcase the vast array and diversity of the art that Minnesota has to offer, art that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the great masters of the past.

"There is also something about the caliber of art that has always existed, what we now call artwork, that always existed here from before colonization," Soukup said.

As part of her exhibit, Bergh will be holding an artist's talk at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in the Pillsbury Auditorium at the museum. The event is free, though reservations are needed so the museum knows how many people to expect, Soukup said. The museum will also be open following the talk, so visitors can go view the artwork.

"It is bright, colorful," Soukup said. "Exactly what you want in the dead of winter."

For those who can't attend the talk in person, it will be recorded and posted on the Minneapolis Institute of Art website.

Soukup urges people to come out and see Bergh's exhibit, even if they do not have a background in art or color theory. Mia welcomes everyone to its galleries free of charge, and wants to spread the good that can come from viewing and experiencing art.

"You don't need to understand deep art to enjoy Lisa's show. You can simply enjoy the colors — and that is what it is about, painting with light," Soukup said. "You don't have to know anything about art to get something from an art museum. It is okay to just feel something in the moment and that is valid."