Wallace Berman Original Vintage Beat Movement Jim Morrison Photographic Verifax Postmodern Mixed Media Assemblage Artwork

"HEAR, TOUCH, SPEAK, IN THE PRIVACY OF HIS HEART"

Original vintage postmodern mixed media art assemblage/composition, containing a silver gelatin art print (that may be a verifax type of print), hammered copper, and wire, by assemblage artist, and photographer, Wallace Berman. 

The photographic image appears to be a photograph of Jim Morrison from The Doors, who was affiliated with Wallace Berman, both being part of an underground artist social scene in the Beat Movement. The image itself is likely a verifax copy, which was a medium used by the artist in many of his photographic assemblages.

Both artists Wallace Berman and Robert Heinecken published "Speaking in Tongues: Wallace Berman and Robert Heinecken 1961-1976" at Armory Center for the Arts, in 2011.  On each side of the copper panel sheeting-like frame, there is a word on each side, which is an epigram/poem stamped into the copper (top) HEAR (right) TOUCH (left) SPEAK (bottom) IN THE PRIVACY OF HIS HEART. Due to the similar nature of the subject, this painting may have been included in this collaboration.

Wallace Berman, born on February 18, 1926, in Staten Island, New York, was a pivotal American experimental filmmaker and artist known for his assemblage and collage works. His family relocated to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, in the 1930s.

In the early 1940s, Berman was expelled from high school for gambling and became involved in the West Coast jazz scene, even writing a song with Jimmy Witherspoon. He attended classes at the Jepson Art Institute and Chouinard Art Institute during the 1940s. From 1949, he worked in a furniture finishing factory, where he began creating sculptures from wood scraps. By the early 1950s, he became a full-time artist and became involved in the Beat Movement. He married Shirley Morand (Shirley Berman), and they had a son, Tosh, in 1954.

In late 1957, Berman moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco, focusing on his magazine, Semina, which included poetry, photographs, texts, drawings, and images he assembled. He returned to Los Angeles in 1961 and moved to Topanga Canyon in 1965. Berman began creating his Verifax Collages around 1963-1964. Director Dennis Hopper, a collector of Berman's work, gave him a small role in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Berman continued producing work until his death in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in 1976. Notably, he had told his mother as a child that he would die on his 50th birthday, which indeed happened.

Artistic Career

Berman's art epitomized the interdisciplinary interests that characterized the Beat movement. His Verifax collages featured photocopies of images from magazines and newspapers, arranged in a grid format and often mixed with acrylic paint, creating what critic Will Fenstermaker called "psychedelic typologies."

Influenced by jazz, rock music, Beat poetry, Surrealism, Dada, and the Kabbalah, Berman's work often incorporated Hebrew letters, reflecting his interest in Jewish mysticism. These elements also appeared in his only film, Aleph. His involvement with the jazz scene led to opportunities to create bebop album covers for musicians like Charlie Parker.

In 1957, Berman had his first exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. Following a raid by the LAPD vice squad, he was convicted of displaying lewd materials. His friend, actor Dean Stockwell, paid the fine to release him. After this incident, Berman chose not to exhibit publicly again during his lifetime.

Semina

Berman's mail art publication Semina was a series of folio packages, limited in edition and distributed to friends. It combined collages with poetry by writers like Michael McClure, Philip Lamantia, David Meltzer, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jean Cocteau, and Berman himself (under the pseudonym Pantale Xantos). Published from 1955 to 1964, the first issue of Semina featured a photograph of artist and occultist Marjorie Cameron and her drawing Peyote Vision, which was included in Berman's controversial 1957 Ferus Gallery exhibition.

Aleph

Berman's experimental 8mm film Aleph was a silent, six-minute piece he worked on from 1958 to 1976. The film incorporated techniques from his collage and painting practices, featuring hand coloring, Letraset symbols, and pop-culture portraits superimposed on images of a Sony transistor radio. After Berman's death, filmmaker Stan Brakhage enlarged the film to 16mm for public screenings. The film was named Aleph by Berman’s son Tosh, referencing the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Legacy

Berman's likeness appears on the cover of the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in a photograph taken by Dean Stockwell. In 1992, Berman's papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by his son, Tosh Berman.

Wallace Berman

(1926-1976)
American
Assemblage, Surreal, Pop art, Modern art, Contemporary art, Postmodernism, Beatnik, Hippy
Conceptual art piece: Silver Print/Photograph; (clear film protected), Hammered and Stamped Copper, Chicken Wire, nails, staples, on a wood panel backing
Silver print/photograph measures approximately 13" X 17.4", (showing, from behind copper setting). The Color of the silver print is difficult to capture, but is a light greenish, bluish, gray; (versus sepia colored)
The entire conceptual assemblage measures approximately 24" X 28"
On each panel, there is stamped into the copper, an epigram/poem (top) HEAR (right) TOUCH (left) SPEAK (bottom) IN THE PRIVACY OF HIS HEART
The art assemblage composition is estimated to have been created in approximately 1970. 
Signed with the artist's initials on the reverse, on the wood panel
The art assemblage is in very good, original condition. There is some light dust, and light dirt on the clear film, protecting the silver print, that will likely need to be professionally cleaned, at some point. Please review all images.

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