Bruce Becker: Living in Light

Bruce Becker is a Berks County master artist whose work has been shown and collected from Paris to London, Boston to New York City — yet only twice in Berks County, once at the Reading Public Museum and in June 2022 at Warehouse Studios’ gallery in Reading. It’s not that he’s hiding: Becker is just busy. Painting. And teaching at Alvernia and in private classes. But mostly painting.

From Buggy Wheels to Angel Wings

Becker’s awareness of light is all-pervasive. Even a shiny car hood in a random car show struck Becker so hard that he just had to capture it in Classic Shine. The lifelong artist knows he is literally driven by light: “It’s all about light and shape and color,” he says. “And you can see my subject matter is all across the board.”

Indeed, Ocean Blue delivers a grand vision of living water, so imbued with light-filled molecules of water that earth and ground no longer matter. On another canvas are thundering horse hooves in Full Stride, with sole focus on the life-energy projected by the majestic animals. With equal devotion, Becker paints shining pots and pans on a kitchen shelf, splashed by sunlight in Pots and Pans, a portrait of everyday human tools made elegant. The central subject of Girl with Scarf is a young Amish girl whose face and blue eyes are illuminated with light, which also bounces off the brim of a man’s hat and blue scarves of women close by.

The Power of Dreams and Inner Vision

Becker’s dreams and inner vision frequently fuel his work. During the pandemic, the artist took heart by heeding these words: “Paint what’s in your head.” The next thing he knew, Angel emerged on the canvas. “That’s what came out,” he says with a quiet smile.

This iconic piece is comprised of one pair of heavenly wings, uplifted, on the back of an angelic presence. Exquisite details radiate in lavenders, blues and varying shades of white light, filling the canvas end to end. The painting seems to float in air. The strong yet tender feathers are powerful and overarching; they’re intimate and energetic. In effect, they’re deeply comforting.

The origin of Singer/Fabric was similar: “I literally dreamt this entire piece — all the cloth, every detail,” says Becker, “I woke up and went to the studio…” As he discusses this large painting, palpable excitement pours into his words. White fabric spills across the width and length of the canvas, with the exception of a vintage Singer sewing machine — “the only thing I ‘researched’ before I painted it,” he says. That jet black object with its classic gold details provides the only contrast to all-white, shimmering threads. Compositionally, the machine occupies a firmly quiet, relatively small, confident spot at the upper left top of the painting, itself looking much like a master at work. One senses the human behind the machine, though no hands are in evidence. The fabric catches white light in multiple folds and draping, rapturing the eye and capturing the heart. Stirred to art by this one dream, Becker’s paintbrushes speak of texture, industriousness, joy of creation, sunrays woven in nano-threads, simplicity/complexity and life.