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Berny Brownstein

A native Philadelphian, Berny attended the University of the Arts on a four-year scholarship. Prior to the U of A, Berny spent his entire youth in the pursuit of his career in fine arts. From his very early years, his artistic talent brought him recognition. He received countless awards from various shows and exhibitions. Though he excelled in graphics and creative advertising, Berny continued to pursue his love of the fine arts. Over the years, he has exhibited and sold his work to a variety of companies and individuals. Berny recently returned from Italy, where he painted in the Tuscan hills. He recently had one-man shows at Gallery 500, in Elkins Park, PA, and The Wexler Gallery, in Philadelphia, PA. His watercolors, and oils, and drawings have been exhibited and continue to be purchased by admirers and collectors alike. Today, Berny is the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of the advertising agency that he began in 1964, Brownstein Group. Recently, Berny was asked to share his philosophy on his art, responding: “I have since childhood felt compelled to transform my visual experiences of all kinds into art. My surroundings are an endless source of influence. I am excited about the essence of all things: A figure, a landscape, the character of a person, a red pepper, a few scattered objects on a table. Form, color, texture, the transient play of light and shadow; all of these inspire me. When rendered by the artist’s hand even the most commonplace of objects are enduring moments to the limitless subject matter of nature. Looking at some of my recent works in Italy and the New Jersey shore line, it seems to me the two have more in common than I originally thought. Evidence of daily rituals and natural and human cycles of renewal are everywhere in them; friends meeting in a village bar for a nightly round of storytelling, the ocean’s tides, laundry drying in the Tuscan sun, surrounding hillsides covered with olive trees, plants growing through broken asphalt, grapes ripening in a Tuscan vineyard. I feel driven to capture these things before they pass away, for they are what gives our lives stability and significance without us really even being aware they exist.”

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