143

Wallace Berman

1926-1976

Untitled, circa 1965

Verifax collage and acrylic on paper laid to board
Appears unsigned; attributed and dated on a gallery label affixed to the frame's backing board
5.75" H x 6" W

  • Provenance:
    Property from the Collection of Teri Garr, Los Angeles, CA
  • Exhibited:
    Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Notes:
    Wallace Berman was an American visual artist and pivotal figure in the California counterculture scene of the 1950s and 1960s, and often known for his experimental collage, film, and assemblage works.

    Born in 1926 in Staten Island, New York, Berman's family moved to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles when he was a child. This relocation introduced him to the vibrant, multifaceted culture of Southern California, which later became an essential component of his creative output. After attending classes at Jepson Art Institute and Chouinard Art Institute in the 1940s, Berman worked at a factory furnishing store for a few years, thus introducing him to start creating sculptures from wood scraps and becoming a full-time artist in the early 1950s. Additionally, Berman was heavily influenced by the jazz scene, the writings of the Beat poets (therefore becoming involved in the 'Beat Movement'), and by Jewish mysticism, particularly the Kabbalah (a mystical interpretation of Judaism to understand the divine world and the purpose of human life). Berman's attraction to mysticism and the esoteric helped shape his approach to art, leading him to seek meaning beyond conventional boundaries. He found resonance in themes of transcendence, spirituality, and inner consciousness, all of which would find expression in his later work.

    It was this time during the late 1950s, 'In a letter to Wallace Berman from the poet, David Meltzer who captured Wallace's fluid openness to change—a quality that shaped his life as an artist. This openness recalls the layered, transformative imagery often seen in Berman's work:'

    "No hope in making, assembling, binding together ornate bibles of history. The clues are found everywhere: outside the printed word; inside the sleeping poet; on the streets; beneath the sea; in levels, stratum, the years of a desert; and aurora around all the dead we bury within ourselves. Reconsider the wind that moves flags, touches tents: an invisible snake running thru the grass," (Artforum, Merril Greene).

    Wallace Berman is often credited with the technique of photocollage, particularly through his use of the Verifax copier, a forerunner to the modern photocopier. This technology enabled him to create collages that juxtaposed images from popular culture, media, and religious symbols. By layering and combining diverse imagery, Berman reflected and critiqued the commercialization and contradictions of modern society. His collages often feature hand-held transistor radios displaying various images instead of speakers, representing a form of communication that transcends physical space, echoing the spiritual and mystical undertones of his pieces. Berman saw mass communication as both a powerful force for unity, as well as a tool of manipulation, questioning its duality by inserting various symbols within the radio, thus creating a language through various images. Additionally, Berman's work often explored the mystical and spiritual entities of life. His Jewish heritage and interest in Kabbalistic imagery gave his pieces a symbolic depth that reflected his quest for enlightenment and understanding of the universe's hidden meanings. In his collages, Berman would incorporate Hebrew letters, not simply as linguistic symbols but as representations of cosmic and spiritual principles. It was these elements above that merge with symbols from advertising, religious texts, and esoteric sources, drawing viewers into a meditation on the pervasive impact of mass media on consciousness.

    On February 18, 1976, in the early hours of his 50th birthday, Wallace Berman was tragically killed in an automobile accident near his Topanga Canyon home. Despite his limited commercial success during his lifetime, Berman is now celebrated as one of the fathers of the assemblage and photo collage techniques, and he is widely recognized as an artist who bridged the Beatnik and hippie countercultural movements. It was his authenticity and unconventionality that made his art transformative. In the years following his sudden death, Berman's work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and retrospectives, solidifying his place in the history of American art.
  • Condition: Overall good condition. Slight abrasions along each extreme edge. The work is framed floating, mounted to the back mat. Not examined out of the frame

    Framed under glass: 12.25" H x 17.75" W x 1.75" D


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