After many years of work as an interpretive landscape painter, Bergland began converting his tradtional style of painting (acrylic paint on canvas), to a style which used only digital tools and processes. He began achieving early success with this practise which then evolved into his current style called the Sideshow Style. He began exhibiting extensively in international juried online exhibitions, where he began to introduce viewers to his unique style. At this time, Bergland's work focused on motifs of dark psychological oddity constructed in sideshow-like theatrical settings. He began attracting an audience and his schedule of international exhibitions expanded. Don's evolution through the complexities of both this style and its manifestation through digital processes has allowed him to create theatrical narratives which explore the darker existential questions of human existence. Don Bergland maintains an active international exhibiting career and has featured his artwork in over 200 major exhibitions throughout the world. He has won over 90 creative & professional awards for his work. His work is represented in major corporate and private collections such as the Gulf Oil Corporate Collection (Alberta), the Madrona Centre Permanent Collection (B.C.), the Canadian Utilities Corporate Collection (Alberta), the Timothy Eaton Foundation Collection (Canada), the Chevron Standard Corporate Collection (Alberta), as well as in private collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe. His current focus is in using 3D modeling environments to create surrealistic imagery for international exhibitions. He currently lives and works in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Don Bergland has spent over fifty years working in the visual studio and has moved through many visual styles in his art production. For the first twenty years of his studio life, he worked as a traditional painter creating large interpretive works on canvases. He now finds himself working with digital tools and techniques, focusing on an integration of 3D modeling software and various graphic processing programs in order to construct a theatrically surrealistic language that integrates the viewer in a participatory dialogue in unpacking meaning from visual imagery.
Bergland describes his current work as theatrical surrealism with the objective of eliciting questioning attitudes in the mind of viewers. For Bergland, the enclosed space of the visual image is a dramatic cerebral theater populated by realistic sets, objects, and figures which when combined with intention, offer challenging mental puzzles. Walking a thin tightrope between the obvious and the absurd, he constructs sets which host small dynamic dramas based on the mind’s ability to build meaningful narratives from enigmatic sources. The resulting images are to be seen for what they are, and then for what they may not be.
Each of Bergland's artworks features a theatrical set defined by a stage with actors, props, and a backdrop. The actors in the set consist of everyday objects brought into combinations and interactions that attempt to elicit inquiry. The content of the artwork focuses on themes such as time, aging, nostalgia, the footless pursuit of Utopia, and the conditions of ideology which disable our rational minds. Each image is constructed using conventions of visual realism, but with alterations that offer dreamlike possibilities. Themes and objects appear and re-appear from image to image. Each artwork becomes a framed snapshot of a moment in theatrical space, noticed briefly, and then forgotten once more, a fraction of time when reality is breached and a frozen glimpse into the mental theatre of eternity is experienced, an opening when the viewer can catch the faint hint of cotton candy breezing in from the sideshow midway, the pastel moment of a lost memory, a slight reminder that the future is never absent, and that the past is always in front of us.
Although Bergland arranges his objects in specific ways to express his own ideas, he is fully aware that the way the imagery is designed will lead to a multitude of different interpretations. For the careful observer, directional maps are suggested in each image. These maps are woven into the location, pictorial relationships, and surface appearances of the actors in each composition. Bergland intends that the viewer will engage with the work, note surfaces, relationships, symbols, and metaphors, and will then construct personal meaning from the engagement.
Like all studio-based languages of imaginative possibility, he has merely begun the journey of building and refining his own visual syntax and grammar of cerebral imagination. Each of his works is a record of that journey.
RECENT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS (since 2017)
2023 - Games We Play, International Juried Exhibition, Gallery Omata - Group Exhibition (April), Winner of Best in Show Award
2023 - Odysseus - International Juried Exhibition, Pocket Star Gallery, Athens, Greece. Group Exhibition (March).
2022 - The Surreal - International Juried Exhibition, The Chateau Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky. Group Exhibition (November).
2022 - 4th Animal Competition - International Juried Exhibition, Art Show International Gallery, Los Angeles, USA - Group Exhibition (April) - Winner of Talent Prize
2022 - Human Nature - International Juried Exhibition, Colours of Humanity Art Gallery, Everett, Pennsylvania - Group Exhibition (April) - Winner of Honorable Mention Award
2022 - The Absurd - International Juried Exhibition, Chateau Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky, USA - Group Exhibition (March - April)
2022 - SCA Open International Online Exhibition - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (March, April) - Winner of Third Place of Excellence Award
2022 - Open International Exhibition - Blue Blood Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic - Group Exhibition (February) - Winner of Honorable Mention Award
2022 - 3rd Portrait Competition - International Juried Exhibition, Art Show International Gallery, Los Angeles, USA - Group Exhibition (February) - Winner of Talent Prize
2021 - Uncanny - International Juried Exhibition, Chateau Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky, USA - Group Exhibition (December - February)
2021 - Believe 2021 - International Juried Exhibition, Gallerium Gallery, Toronto, Canada - Group Exhibition (November)
2021 - Open International Exhibition - Blue Blood Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic - Group Exhibition (November) - Winner of First Place Award
2021 - All Animals Competition - International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online (CAGO), Annapolis, Maryland - Group Exhibition (October) - Winner of Best of Show Award
2021 - Emptiness - International Juried Exhibition, Exhibizone, Toronto, Canada - Group Exhibition (September)
2021 - Silence of Eternity - International Solo Exhibition, Centro de arte contemporáneo de Málaga, Málaga (CAC), Spain - Solo Exhibition (June through September)
2021 - Portraits - International Juried Exhibition, Art Room Gallery, Falkenstein, Germany - Group Exhibition (May) - Winner of a Merit Award
2021 - The 2021 Society of Canadian Artists International Exhibition (SCA). Group Exhibition (March/April)
2021 - Small Works, Big Talent - International Juried Exhibition, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, USA - Group Exhibition (January)
2021 - Animals - International Juried Exhibition, Colours of Humanity Art Gallery, Everett, Pennsylvania - Group Exhibition (November) - Winner of Best of Show Award
2021 - Portraits - International Juried Exhibition, Art Room Gallery, Falkenstein, Germany - Group Exhibition (January) - Winner of a Merit Award
2021 - Small Works, Big Talent - International Juried Exhibition, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, USA - Group Exhibition (January)
2020 - 8th Annual All Figurative & Portrait - International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online (CAGO), Annapolis, Maryland - Group Exhibition (September) - Winner of Third Place Award
2020 - SCA 52nd International Open Juried Exhibition Online - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (August)
2020 - SCA 2020 Elected Members' Juried Exhibition Online - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (July)
2020 - Abstracts - International Juried Exhibition, Grey Cube Gallery, Germany - Group Exhibition (June). Winner of two Honorable Mention Awards.
2020 - Amazing Animals - International Juried Exhibition, Camelback Gallery, Scottsdale Arizona, USA - Group Exhibition (May). Winner of Best in Show Award
2020 - SCA 2020 Open International Online Exhibition - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (March). Winner of First Place Award
2020 - Black & White - International Juried Exhibition, Grey Cube Gallery, Germany - Group Exhibition (March). Winner of a Merit Award
2020 - 5th Annual Artists Choice. International Juried Art Exhibition. Fusion Art Gallery, Group Exhibition, Palm Springs, California. (February)
2020 - Solo Exhibition (Juried) Light Space, & Time Online Art Gallery Palm Springs, California, USA - Solo Exhibition (January). Winner of 14th Solo Art Series Competition Award
2019 - Photography & Digital Exhibition - International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, Annapolis, Maryland, USA - Group Exhibition (December), Winner of Social Consciousness Award
2019 - Open Source (Juried Invitational), Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art (LACDA), Los Angeles, California, USA – Group Invitational Exhibition (December)
2019 - No Walls - International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (August). Winner of First Prize Award
2019 - 51st Open International Juried Exhibition - Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Papermill Gallery, Todmorden Mills Heritage Site, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (August)
2019 - 2019 International Online Open - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (March)
2019 - Text & Image - International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (February/March). Winner of First Place Award
2018 - Animals - International Juried Exhibition, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, Everett, Pennsylvania, USA - Group Exhibition (November)
2018 - Face Value - International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (August)
2018 - The Figure - International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (June). Winner of Second Place Award
2018 - 2018 Open International - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (March)
2017 - 49th Open International Juried Exhibition - Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Papermill Gallery, Todmorden Mills Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (September). Winner of Award of Excellence.
2017 - Ugly - International Juried Exhibition, Linus Gallery, Los Angeles (Pasadena & Long Beach), California, USA - Group Exhibition (August)
2017 - The Still Life 2017 - International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (July/August). Winner of Best of Show Award
2017 - Courage & Disturbance - International Juried Exhibition, Linus Gallery, Los Angeles (Pasadena & Long Beach), California, USA - Group Exhibition (June/July)
2017 - F the Art World - International Juried Exhibition, Unarthodox Gallery, New York, USA - Group Exhibition (June). Winner of First Prize in Digital Arts category
2017 - 12th Annual Members Exhibition, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (LACDA), Los Angeles, California - Invitational Group Exhibition (April)
2017 - The Figure 2017 - International Juried Exhibition, Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (February). Winner of Honorable Mention Award
2017 - Electron Salon - March (Juried Invitational), Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art (LACDA), Los Angeles, California, USA – Group Invitational Exhibition (January)
2017 - 2017 Open International - International Juried Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (March)
2017 - Play - International Juried Exhibition, Linus Gallery, Los Angeles (Pasadena & Long Beach), California, USA - Group Exhibition (February)
2017 - Electron Salon - January (Juried Invitational), Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art (LACDA), Los Angeles, California, USA – Group Invitational Exhibition (January).
2017 - Photography & Digital Exhibition - International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, Annapolis, Maryland, USA - Group Exhibition (January), Winner of Gallery Choice Award
NOTE - Don Bergland's artwork has appeared in over 200 International Juried art exhibitions since 1970. A complete list of those exhibitions can be found at:
MALAGA EXHIBITION DOCUMENTARY
(In Progress) Film production for feature documentary about Don Bergland's unique 2021 international solo exhibition in Málaga, Spain, the birthplace of Picasso. Documentation of 18 months of studio preparation.
LANDFORMS SHOW
(In Progress) An exhibition of surrealistic landscape forms focused on mental oddity. Projected exhibition venue, Spatial Gallery, a Virual Reality environment.
REQUIEM
(In Progress) Full feature film consisting of images and experimental music written with a gentle nod to traditional Requiem formats. Soundtracks constructed using Don Bergland's Fragment philosophy of sound construction.
ASCENSION
(In Progress) A film production and performance event tracking 70 paintings from Don Bergland's The Silence of Eternity exhibition, from their departure from Europe to their current resting place in Canada.
TEN POLYHISTORICAL NARRATIVES
(In Progress) 10 esoteric story exposures utilizing the absurdist concept of Polyhistory to further mystify the concept of reality. Animation, experimental music,imagery, and text stories comprise the performance routines.
THE DIGITAL FUTURE
(In Progress) Feature articles written about the cutting edge of digital and electronic image production and innovative studio practise as feature articles on the Substack platform.
RECENT INTERNATIONAL AWARDS (Since 2017)
2023 - Best in Show Award - For artwork - "Cherub Go-Round" - Games We Play, International Juried Exhibition, Gallery Omata - Group Exhibition (April)
2022 - Talent Prize Award - For artwork - "Ritual" - 5th Open Art Competition, Art Show International Gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Group Exhibition (August).
2022 - Talent Prize Award - For artwork - "Pontius," - Animal Competition, Art Show International, Los Angeles, USA. Group Exhibition (May).
2022 - Honorable Mention Award - For artwork - "Angst" - Human Nature, International Juried Exhibition, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, Everett, Pennsylvania. Group Juried Competition (April)
2022 - Third Award of Excellence - For artwork - "Belief" - 2022 Open International Exhibition, Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Toronto, Canada. Group Exhibition (March to April).
2022 - Honorable Mention - For artwork "Inquisitor" - Blood Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic. Group Exhibition (February).
2022 - Talent Prize - For artwork "Simulacrum" - 3rd Portrait Competition - International Juried Exhibition, Art Show International Gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Group Show (February).
2021 - First Place Award - For artwork "Belief" - Blue Blood Gallery, Prague, Czech Rebublic,. Group Show (November).
2021 - Best in Show Award - For artwork "Inquisitor" - All Animals Competition, International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online. Group Exhibition (October),
2021 - Merit Award - For artwork "Reunion" - Portrait" Exhibition, International Juried Exhibition, Art Room Gallery, Germany. Group Exhibition (May)
2020 - Best of Show Award - For artwork, "Temptation" - Animals Exhibition, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, Everett, Pennylvania, USA. Group Exhibition (November).
2020 - Third Place Award - For artwork - "Dryads" - 8th Annual "All Figurative & Portrait" International Juried exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, Annapolis, Maryland. Group Exhibition (October).
2020 - Winner of 14th Solo Art Series International Competition - (Juried) – Given for extent and quality of work as well as for biographical and promotional presence. Light Space, & Time Online Art Gallery Palm Springs, California, USA – Group Juried Competition (January).
2019 - Social Consciousness Award – For arwork “Belief.” - Photography & Digital Exhibition, International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, Annapolis, Maryland, USA. Group Exhibition (December)
2019 - First Prize Award – Given for artwork “Belief” - No Walls, International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (August).
2019 - First Place Award – Given for artwork “Axiom” - Text & Image, International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (February/March).
2018 - Second Place Award – Given for artwork “The Heretic” - The Figure, International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (June).
2017 - Award of Excellence – Given for artwork “Lullaby” - 49th Open International Juried Exhibition , Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Papermill Gallery, Todmorden Mills Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Group Exhibition (September).
2017 - Best of Show Award – For artwork “Oblivion” - The Still Life 2017, International Juried Exhibition, Bahaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark, Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (July/August).
2017 - First Prize in Digital Arts Category – For artwork “Doctrine” - F the Art World, International Juried Exhibition, Unarthodox Gallery, New York, USA - Group Exhibition (June).
2017 - Honorable Mention Award – For artwork “Utopians” - The Figure 2017, International Juried Exhibition, Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery, Newark Oklahoma, USA - Group Exhibition (February).
2017 - Gallery Choice Award – For artwork “Chloris” - Photography & Digital Exhibition, International Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, Annapolis, Maryland, USA - Group Exhibition (January),
NOTE - Don has won over 90 international awards for his artwork, creative projects, and scholarship in the field of art. A complete list of those awards can be found at:
Don Bergland has written many books and articles about art as well as having had many publications written about him.
A complete list of articles and commentaries written about Don Bergland and his art can be found at:
- http://www.donbergland.com/berglandwork/pub-about.html
As an artist and university academic, Don has written many books, articles, and commentaries about art and art education. A complete list of his art writings can be found at:
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