| Bert
L. Long Jr., a native and resident of the Fifth Ward,
Houston, was educated at UCLA. Long was a sous-chef for
a Hyatt Hotel until 1976 when he decided to quit the job
and pursue art full-time.
Since then Long has traveled world wide
and exhibited widely in Texas Galleries, and galleries
in Los Angeles and New York City. He has been included
in prestigious museum shows at Houston's Museum of Fine
Arts and at the Dallas Museum of Art. His work is represented
in public and private collections internationally.
Long's mastery of a multitude of media sets him apart
from other artists. Throughout his career, Long has
explored and redefined art media, from sculpture to
photography to painting. Whether his works intend to
be political or playful, each is provoking and original.
Although Long has worked with a variety
of mediums, it was his work with ice that initially
earned recognition. Using over a ton of ice and the
help of twenty-some volunteers, Long uses chainsaws
to carve, rip, and gouge the colored ice. Not only is
watching him create these works thrilling but the result
is a festive, vibrant sculpture that is exciting for
any viewer. Part of what makes his work so intriguing
is the temporality--outdoor ice sculptures in Houston
are inevitably doomed.
Besides the ice sculptures, his paintings
and photographs have also been influential to his success.
Both of these media serve as an outlet for expressing
themes important to Long, such as the experiences of
African-Americans, by exploring our society's racial
stereotypes and prejudices.
In 1990, Long received both the Texas
Artist of the Year Award and the Rome Prize Fellowship.
Recipients of the Rome Prize study at the American Academy
in Rome. Each year 15 emerging artists and 15 scholars
are selected from a national pool of applicants. Artists,
such as Long, refine their trade by interacting with
other artists and scholars across disciplines.
Long has been shown work in over 100
solo, two-person, invitational and group shows, including
The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Menil
Collection, Houston, Texas; Galerie Dario Boccara, Paris,
France; Rhode Island Foundation Gallery, Rhode Island
School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island; and Allen
Stone Gallery, New York City.
His work can be viewed in over 110 private
and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York City; Contemporary Art Museum, Honolulu,
Hawaii; Chicago Library; Office of the Mayor, Berzocana,
Spain; Galerie Dario Boccara, Paris, France; and the
Instituto de Bachillerato "Mario Roso de Luna,"
Logrosan, Spain.
Long is currently represented by Pascal
Robinson Galleries, Houston; L.A. Louver, Los Angeles;
Allan Stone, New York City; Lyons Matrix Gallery, Austin,
Texas; and the Stephen L. Clark Photography Gallery,
Austin, Texas. |
