Interview by ARTSAKE, Mass Cultural Council

ArtSake recently caught up with the painter Rick Berry to ask him about his work. Seeing in the Dark: Pattern Recognition/Discovery in the Marks, The Figurative Works of Rick Berry opens today at the Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery. The show runs through August 30th.

What artists’ work do you admire most but paint nothing like? Here’s the problem. Any artist I’ve ever admired, known or anonymous, has affected my work, my choices. It’s impossible for me to not do things because of this. Here’s an example: One could look at the paintings and say, “Well that’s nothing like Jackson Pollock,” and not know about how often I sling turp and paint directly at the formative surface searching for lyric geometries; the painting may wind up sharply figurative but all that movement? Just go back to its initial musical chaos, and you’ll find a painter that I “paint nothing like.”

What is the most surprising response to your art you have ever received? Read the full interview and leave comments here