Lois Lambert gallery presents in the Project Room “Brain Candy,” a series of never before seen drawings and collages by Simon Berson. These phantasmagorical collages combine trade-magazine cut outs of machinery with the artist’s own drawings. “Brain Candy” is filled with barren lands inhabited by colorful amorphous and robotic beings. Axles, gears, sockets, drill bits, and light bulbs meet bulbous shapes. Berson calls this work Industrial Surrealism. This is the world found inside the mind of Simon Berson.

Berson begins with his sketchbook. He draws soft and swooping organic forms colored in with looping strokes of colored pencil. Once finished, he selects drawings to cut out. Berson supported his family by working as a technical writer and illustrator. He still finds himself fascinated by images of technology, and subscribes to a variety of trade magazines. These offer him the mechanical imagery that Berson cuts out to combine with his drawings, and acheive an unexpected effect. The cold metal and plastic in the photographs make a playful juxtaposition against the soft colors and waxy texture of his colored pencils. Berson allows the pieces to grow organically, improvising with different combinations of cutouts until satisfied with the results.

“Level Up” Collage on Paper, 20” x 30” — **“Level Up”** Collage on Paper, 20” x 30”

At times, these collaged images combine seamlessly. It’s not until one notices the change in texture or range of color that one can detect where Berson’s drawings end and the magazine pictures begin. In other instances, various technological cutouts seem to form a convincing apparatus, but are interrupted by his billowing drawings. Berson’s chief objective is to “make the mind wonder and wander.” Serendipity is one of his favorite tools.

Berson was an avid science fiction fan as a child. These collages are not unlike science fiction: they use technology that exists to inspire the unearthly. This is a theme that is a constant in Berson’s life. He has taken the trappings of his professional life and turned them into truly unique works of art. This series is proof that inspiration can be found in the most unlikely places. What might seem stifling to some is deliverance to Berson: “The work is about the unfettered freedom to explore.”

Simon Berson studied at the Pratt Institute and received his BA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has been in numerous exhibitions since the 1970’s in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago.