Join us on Friday, October 7 (6:00-8:00pm) for the opening reception for the pop-up exhibition, Forgotten Fantasies: Works by Vera Berdich, at the West Town Chamber of Commerce (1819 W. Chicago Ave. #1, Chicago, IL 60622)

The reception coincides with the inaugural West Town First Friday, and is Mongerson Gallery's first collaboration with the Chamber. We hope to see you there!

Once dubbed "the finest etcher in America," Vera Berdich founded the printmaking department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1947. There, she mentored a number of young artists who went on to shape the Chicago Imagist movement as members of the Hairy Who, including Jim Nutt, Art Green, Suellen Rocca, and Jim Falconer. Berdich also revived the nineteenth-century printmaking techniques of cliché verre and à la poupée, and in 1956 developed a photo transfer method that could be used on both canvas and paper. Moving beyond the printmaking medium, Berdich combined this photo transfer method with collage and oil paint on canvas to create uniquely layered and complex mixed media works. Yet, in spite of her technical innovation and generational influence, her work is largely forgotten today. This pop-up exhibition seeks to shine a light on this overlooked artist and her characteristic dreamlike imagery. Berdich once noted that it was her "feeling for fantasy" that drew the attention and encouragement of art teachers, ultimately leading her to pursue an art career. This same fantastical current will fascinate a new generation of viewers in this presentation of original works—the artist's first solo show since 2008.

Image: Vera Berdich (1915–2003)
Brain Box, 1973
Collage transfer and oil on canvas
48 x 54 inches