Gravers Lane Gallery, in partnership with Kensington’s InLiquid Gallery, presents “The Luminous Forest,” a solo exhibition of internationally recognized basketry artist Lanny Bergner. His artworks are currently part of Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen’s travelling retrospective, launched in Paris in 2023 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and most recently displayed in Australia.
Van Herpen has credited Bergner for being an influence on her creative work. While her focus is the human form, Bergner interprets the natural world as encompassing that body. He grew up on an island in the Pacific Northwest, where life is deeply intertwined with the surrounding seas and forests, its myriad creatures, precarious ecosystems, and the cycle of seasons.
Imagine hiking an evergreen forest trail thick with ferns. The path leads to a cliff overlooking the sparkling sea. Standing on this summit, birds soar overhead in an endless blue dome while surf crashes onto rocks below. In that moment, it may strike you that you are merely a small, finite being in a vast, awe-inspiring landscape that will exist long after you do not.
Early 19th-century German Romantics regarded this existential phenomenon as “the sublime.” The greatest of these artists was Casper David Friedrich, who stated, “…a painter should paint not only what he sees before him, but also what he sees within himself.”
Works in “The Luminous Forest” contain Bergner’s ardent love for and observation of nature, in both abstract and literal references, frequently alluding to an invisible microscopic world. His art arises from the tradition of basketry, yet the materials used in Bergner’s work are industrially made.
His forms feel deeply personal rather than utilitarian. This creates a compelling tension as metal meshes are sculpted and embellished with beading, knotting, and other adornments, executed with an astonishingly consistent level of craftsmanship.
Like most of Bergner’s works, the viewer must slow their gaze for full effect. For example, two wall pieces (8’x 4’) are presented in the manner of tapestries, hung flush against a wall. Titled “Primal Forest (1 and 2),” they are composed of stainless-steel panels flame-painted by a torch.
The mesh has been manipulated to create bas-relief embossing reminiscent of ripples on a watery surface or the bark of trees. Pigments of blue, violet, and pink, along with unpainted metallic dots, create a seductive iridescence. Oversized leaves made of copper mesh are attached to the surface, adding high-relief elements.
Like a forest, the interplay of light and shadow is a key element. Careful attention has been given to gallery lighting and shadows. There are 11 works suspended from the ceiling with monofilament, each casting multiple striking silhouettes. These shadows throw natural distortions of their shapes, creating a visual impact and adding emotive aspects.
Five hanging, transparent, dark, podlike structures in various sizes and shapes encapsulate myriad individual configurations of colorful beading, alluding to DNA or microscopic cellular structures of water, insects, or plants. The viewer must get close to examine these tender absorbing details.
A smaller hanging group, which Bergner titles “Codexes,” is more architectural. Their emphasis on geometry contrasts with the pods’ biomorphic shapes.
The term “immersive” is used to describe the exhibition in the catalog. I didn’t feel immersed in the same way, say, Yayoi Kusama’s installations fully surround the body.
The gallery is conventionally hung; most works are suspended, some on walls, with two small works displayed on a glass table, allowing for more shadow effects. I marveled at the minute, precise craftsmanship and color. The application of pigment dependent on heat is a novel approach that creates a distinctive patina.
Returning to Friedrich’s advice about the artist, what does Bergner see within himself? Perhaps making art is not only a tangible expression of the visible natural world, but also a reflection of how he sees himself within it. There is a mindset of reverence. Science exists alongside mystery, and humans must be responsible custodians of the natural world.
Lanny Bergner’s “The Luminous Forest is at InLiquid Gallery at Crane Art Building, Gallery 108, 1400 North American Street, Philadelphia. It runs from June 6-28. An artist talk takes place June 12, 5-5:45 p.m., with a reception to follow. The show is free to the public.
