About the Artist

A contemporary artist whose tool set goes far beyond brushes and paints, J. Dixon Bergman taps cameras, computers, digital printers, and a complete woodworking shop as his arsenal. Continuously learning in the context of creative experimentation, Dixon considers himself a “Constructionist.” His work has been exhibited with numerous regional art associations in both Florida and Massachusetts. Solo exhibits of his 3D works include: The Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota, Florida, The Jeanne Horan Gallery in Marshfield, Massachusetts, sponsored by The North River Art Society; The Light, Space & Time Online Gallery, which listed him among the “Top 25 3D Artists to Watch;” and Scituate Senior Center’s Joanne Vignoni Papandrea Gallery in Scituate, Massachusetts. Internationally, Dixon’s work can be viewed at a permanent installation in the FIVE HOTELS penthouse in Lake Zurich, Switzerland.Dixon earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College and has also engaged in graduate programs at Yale School of Art. Earlier in his career, he gained 30 years of experience as the creative director of an industrial advertising agency, and today devotes his full time work to his artistic passion. 

 Many years back, I disassembled a battered vintage guitar and rearranged the elements in a composition reminiscent of the early cubist painter style. Once finished, I could see that my artwork still had the essence of a guitar, but was now enhanced with refreshing new geometry. Three-Dimensional (3D) Cubism had jumped off my canvas!

More recently, a newer project required piano disassembly. Inside I found the results of amazing workmanship – magnificent complexities in thousands of intricately hinged wooden parts; wonderful themes, and rhythms etched in its construction. Certainly such beauty should be exposed where it could be seen and enjoyed. I assembled many of these wonderful elements to form a 24” x 36” sculpture titled “My Be Flat Piano.” Flat indeed, it was barely 3” thick! On its back, I scribed a few words: “Look now to enjoy the themes and variations on the themes from the internal precision and magnificent rhythms of my ‘Be Flat Piano.’ No longer too heavy to carry, albeit finally out of tunes.”

Today, I peer inside everyday items, scrounged from attics and junk shops, to find hidden beauty that I can expose in new works of art. Printed circuit boards and computer parts pack shelves in my raw materials inventory, where violins and guitars also await implementation as project ideas unfold. I hope you enjoy experiencing familiar items set in new forms, one-of-a-kind combinations that foster traditional cubism to rise off the canvas, out into tactile three-dimensional reality.