KIPNZ is pleased to announce There’s nothing to do at night, an exhibition of artworks by local artist Bernie Seringer Jr. 

Working from his home in the Catskill mountains, Bernie Seringer Jr. has filled his twenty-five years of retirement with painting. 

Born in Glen Cove, New York in 1943, the beginnings of Seringer’s creative life came in the form of a paint-by-number set given to him by his parents for Christmas when he was twelve years old. Seringer later opened a leather goods shop in Oyster Bay, New York— which served as an outlet for his creativity while providing a means to support himself and his family. Now living in Bovina, he paints every day, enjoying the serenity of the Catskill mountains on a dead-end road.

Notwithstanding the home-bound practice of painting, Seringer is also a collector, acquiring and storing materials and surfaces on which to paint: antique mirrors, windows and frames, as well as other paintings. Glass pebbles, glitter paint, even a pair of old eyeglasses have found themselves employed in the transformation of an object. Seringer’s ongoing engagement with painting and color gives rise to diverse and fantastical imagery: from portraits of robots and medieval soldiers to psychedelic abstractions, talismanic fish and smiling suns. They are the denizens of Seringer’s world: a rich landscape that incorporates the details of life, of fiction and the play of dreams.

“I sometimes start my paintings with a general idea, but most often I drift and let the paint determine what the final outcome will be. I sometimes look back at a painting and wonder what the creative process was. Most times I cannot remember. When starting something new I like to look back at my work and say to myself ‘and now for something different.’ I like being different and creating my own style.” 

When asked what keeps him painting, Seringer replied with a smile, “there’s nothing to do at night.” 

Bernie Seringer Jr. has exhibited locally including an exhibition at Bushel Art Collective in 2022 in addition to the Delaware County Fair where he has won two first-place ribbons and two second-place ribbons. He has four children and seven grandchildren.

Image: Machine Face. Mixed media on canvas panel in artist frame, 20 x 16 inches.