CalHalla

“In this group of paintings, while continuing an ongoing exploration of female identity, the idealized female is placed within the context of an idealized or “mythicized” America. Mythology has been a central theme throughout art history and in this series, I’ve begun to posit, “What is our American mythology?”

~ LAUREN BERGMAN

• FULL ARTIST STATMENT

In these paintings, I’m using California as an archetype for the American idyll. Having lived on the East Coast my entire life, California has always existed in my mind as a utopian America. Mid-century California imagery seems to epitomize how we collectively envision that better, brighter future. 

The show is titled “CalHalla: Dreams of Future Passed.” The title contrasts California and Valhalla alluding to how California and its mid-century architecture reflect the utopian idealization that exists in our collective unconscious: a sunny and modern Eden. Both the vast and sprawling tract-home neighborhoods (the “little boxes on the hillside”), populist in design, to the more daring modernist structures of Lautner, Neutra, LloydWright, and Koenig are emblematic of our collective future vision of hope and optimism. If America were to have a Mount Olympus it would look like these buildings and our goddesses would look like pinup girls residing in this modernist paradise. 

Like the proverbial snake swallowing its own tail, a culture creates media, and media affects culture, and on and on until it’s unclear whether media is a product of our culture or culture is a product of the media. I reference mid-20th-century imagery partially because by distancing ourselves from its original context we view it as separate from contemporary culture, allowing for perspective. Yet even viewed through the lens of irony this time period and these images exist within our culture as our mythical version. 

The central ongoing theme of my work is the exploration of female identity. How cultures have portrayed women historically is generally through goddess imagery, royalty, maidens dancing in the forest, etc. I have chosen to focus on the depiction of women in advertising imagery as a way of entering the dialogue. Commonly women are portrayed as either sexualized or infantilized (or both). The big-eyed pouting pin-up girl sold everything from cigars to cars. Contemporary advertising, while perhaps less coy, is little changed. So while I paint the idealized, sexualized female, by the very nature of the fact that I am a contemporary female the work by default becomes a somewhat politicized commentary on the barrage of images and messages that to one degree or another inform and define our identities. 

I often use classic pinups, vintage erotica, Bettie Page, and Josephine Baker photographs as reference material. I seek out images both of women and the other elements of the paintings that have some sort of iconic resonance; images that illicit a collective emotional response. 

Lauren Bergman | New York City | 2009

You Deserve A Break | 30” x 36” acrylic on gessoed paper mounted on Cintra board | SOLD