Joseph Bergman's 15DP

Joseph Bergman’s “Meaning Optional” collages at the University of Michigan Pierpont Commons Gallery Wall want to convince us the exhibit’s title is accurate. But, point in fact; the most interesting aspect of his composite prints is the evidence that meanings are not optional.

Rather, there’s a natural impulse for us to want to give meaning to what we see. And it’s this urge to organize and categorize and our meanings that give Bergman’s 27 inventive artworks their considerable power.

Bergman’s gallery statement tells us his works are “archival digital inkjet prints — also known as ‘giclee’ prints.” They have been “printed with Epson Ultra-chrome K3 archival inks on Epson enhanced matter paper and mounted on archival boards.”

Giclee printmaking is a relatively recent digital innovation, in which images are generated from high-resolution scans. It recalls 20th century collages, where the intent was to attach diverse materials over a common surface to create a work of art.

Joseph Bergman's 9DP

In particular, the art of the photomontage — of which Bergman’s composites are an prime example — result in making a composite work of art by the cutting and pasting a number of photographic sources; then photographing the whole so that the final image is a seamless print.

The possibilities of photomontage are virtually infinite, and the meanings derived from the final composition are indeed “optional” since we take away from the work whatever we choose to read into it.

There is, therefore, often a temptation on the part of the artist to overload the composition, effectively saying less and less about more and more. Yet here is where Bergman’s digital work shows its strength. His composites are filled with an array of diverse, colorful and provocative elements. Yet rather than create visual overload, Bergman keeps his work harnessed.

The result is a contemplative set of composites whose elements supplement, rather than clash, with each other.

Joseph Bergman's 18DP

One example will serve to illustrate Bergman's inventiveness. His “18 DP” is filled with a remarkable mixture of machine parts set in contrast to 2 portraits strategically placed in the heart of the composition. Add the scraps of paper layered in the print, as well as geometric patterning and other elements, and Bergman’s meanings are most certainly optional.

There’s simply too much symbolism in these rudiments for meaning not to exist. Yet they exist in a visual space where denotation clashes with multiple possible connotations — a clever, supple ambivalence.

“Joseph Bergman: Meanings Optional” continues through March 30 at the University of Michigan Pierpont Commons Wall Gallery, 2101 Bonisteel Blvd. Gallery hours are 7 a.m. to midnight, Monday-Friday; and 8 a.m. to midnight, Saturday-Sunday. For information, call 734-647-6838.