also known as Mr. B, is an artist, elementary school teacher, and second-time resident at Bunker Project (alum 2018). Eric’s practice strives to celebrate DIY collectivity, and play for not only themselves but his students. Eric received his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has had solo exhibitions at the University Galleries of Illinois State University, Project 1612 (Peoria IL), and Practice Gallery (Philadelphia) They have exhibited work at Iridian Gallery (Richmond VA), Stay Home Gallery, (Paris TN), Oklahomo (Chicago), and the Erie Art Museum. His work has been published in Hiss Mag, Emergency Index, and New American Painting.

"My practice engages childhood idealism, mythology, and historic events, to subvert ideas of place, language, and imagery that are often considered neutral in a heteronormative society. " -Eric

ericanthonyberdis.com/

Eric Anthony Berdis (Erie, PA)

Artist Bio

My work embraces a maximalist aesthetic of archival research, personal secrets, and pubescent gay boy glamour. In periods of instability, insecurity, and oppression, I, as a queer maker, continuously find ways to imagine and embody joy through my practice. Happiness, play, and pleasure are not only sought after during difficult times but are arguably necessary components of survival. For queer artists like myself, joy is an act of resilience—a critical method of subverting hegemonic narratives of suffering. Queer joy in my work is found through forms of exuberance such as world-building, committing to materials, and escaping into new types of processes. Inspired in part by Jack Halberstam’s The Queer Art of Failure, the studio becomes experimental, joyful, and playful during uncertain or fearful times.

​I seek to create a stimulating, yet jarring experience while aiming to create a familiar and inherently strange world for the viewer. Using imagery of superheroes, abandoned fish sculptures in my hometown, and queer historical icons, I seek to build a world and share that place through drawing, installations, objects, and costumes. My practice engages childhood idealism, mythology, and historic events, to subvert ideas of place, language, and imagery that are often considered neutral in a hetero-normative society.
In my work, thrift store castoffs and hobbyist craft supplies are reassembled into a cast of characters that blur the lines between ghost, creature, and friend. These discarded materials are imbued in perspective and care, that with fresh eyes can be magical. None of these materials cover the body or hide uncomfortable truths of failure or becoming; the AIDS epidemic; or navigating inclusive conversations and spaces. Slapdash construction conveys the enormity and messiness of feeling in the face of a political structure that confines queer bodies. For this reason, I draw from activist processes. Appliqué cloth and safety pins together reference the San Francisco Flower Power performance troupe, the Cockettes, who, through their pageantry, changed notions of dress, gender, community, and the ACT UP movement that demanded change in the healthcare industry.

Artist statement