Not bad for a recent MFA grad.
So, when I had that exhibition, people were rather taken aback by it.
I liked that; I like surprises!
Artist Bernice Bing in her North Beach studio, c. 1958-1961.
And she was an Abstract Expressionist living some 2,500 miles away from the center of that scene.
Bernice Bing,Velasquez Family No.
Oil on canvas, 71 x 68 in.
Bernice Bing,Velasquez Family No. II, 1961. Oil on canvas, 71 x 68 in.
To look at BingsVelasquez Family No.
II,an early oil painting, it truly is a wonder her work wasnt better known.
It gave her a sense of the overpowering spirituality that one feels when one is in a natural environment.
Bernice Bin,Burney Falls, 1980. Oil on canvas, 95 x 77 in.
Her awe comes through in her mighty brushstrokes, green and brown and enchanting.
Bernice Bin,Burney Falls, 1980.
Oil on canvas, 95 x 77 in.
Bernice Bing,Mayacamas, 1963. Oil on canvas, 58 3/8 x 49 1/4 in.
Bernice Bing was born in San Franciscos Chinatown in 1936.
Her father was in jail by the time she was three (he would die in custody).
Bing was then put into the foster care system, which brought its own traumas.
Bernice Bing, c. 1961.
She struggled in school but excelled in art.
In San Francisco, Bing, known affectionately as Bingo, ran in tight-knit circles among the Beats.
She was just really a remarkable woman, says Campbell.
Bernice Bing,Mayacamas, 1963.
Oil on canvas, 58 3/8 x 49 1/4 in.
In the 1980s, Bing traveled to Korea, Japan, and China.
I was totally naive about my own cultural heritage, Bing wrote in an artists statement in 1990.
This duality caused me to explore the differences and samenesses in art forms.
She comes back to the US, and she doesnt just paint landscapes.
Bing also started weaving her interest in Buddhism into her work.
Bing was a deep thinker in other ways, too.
The evolution of her work is as complex as her life itself.
Bernice Bing, c. 1961.
The answer, of course, is in her art.
She explored the world around her, and the even deeper one within.
