Debra Bermingham is an American artist known for her interior scenes and still lifes.

Biography

Debra Pandell Bermingham was born in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

on September 18, 1953. She was educated at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, Seattle, and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in Ithaca, New York. She has held teaching positions at the

, Hobart College,

, and

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...

Work

Bermingham paints realistic interiors. Everyday objects are rendered strange and lyrical by her odd compositions and fuzzy lighting. The results are enigmatic little scenes not clarified by their equally puzzling titles. She describes the rationale for her subject matter thus: "Finding the edge between the compelling atmosphere of an image from memory and an image from dream is the crux of my painting." Many of her works are still lifes with diminutive objects dwarfed by the surrounding spaces. Like

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker widely known for his subtly muted still-life paintings of ceramic vessels, flowers, and landscapes—their quiet, meditative quality reflecting the artist's ...

(who is often mentioned in discussion of her work), Bermingham uses a limited collection of objects that she arranges in various combinations and settings; toys,

marionettes A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...

, chairs, birdcages, and butterflies are among her favorite subjects. Her figures gaze intently at the viewer. A

harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

or clown appears in several paintings; describing one such figure in an exhibition review, Gerrit Henry asks, "Is man essentially a puppet of the gods, or of the artist?" Bermingham favors limited palettes, working in transparent layers to create subtle color. Her process is meticulous and time-consuming; she is not a prolific artist. The most distinctive characteristic of her painting might be her portrayal of transfused light. Reagan Upshaw describes it as "chilly luminescence" and connects her work to

Luminism (American art style) Luminism is a style of American landscape painting from the 1850s to 1870s, characterized by effects of light in a landscape, through the use of aerial perspective and the concealing of visible brushstrokes. Luminist landscapes emphasize tranqui ...

. She also paints landscapes, which were called reviewer "evocatively grim," with "

jaundiced Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the Human skin, skin and sclera due to hyperbilirubinemia, high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence o ...

" color by one reviewer.

Collections

Bermingham's works are held in the collections of: * the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, * the Kalamazoo Institute of Art, * the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, and * the

Smith College Museum of Art The Smith College Museum of Art, abbreviated SCMA, is the art museum of Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, Northampton, Massachusetts. First established in 1870, the museum is part of the American Alliance of Museums, Five Coll ...

Awards

*Louise Nevelson Award in Art, American Academy of Arts and Letters (1996) *University of Rochester,

Memorial Art Gallery The Memorial Art Gallery is a civic art museum in Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus. It is a focal point of fine arts ac ...

, Louis D'Amanda Memorial Award (1985) *Cornell University, Charles Goodwin Sands Memorial Medal (1976) *Cornell University, Edith and Walter King Stone Memorial Prize (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bermingham, Debra 1953 births American modern artists 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters Artists from New York (state) People from Northampton, Massachusetts Painters from Massachusetts Living people 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American women painters