Opening Exhibition of our new San Francisco Gallery
Julius Shulman Early Photographs from the Bay Area
Andrew GeorgeLight Leaks
Gallery and Exhibition opens Saturday, April 18, 2009
In conjunction with the Craig Krull Gallery
E61632 market street, san francisco, ca 94102 Julius Shulman, San Francisco Bay Bridge under construction,
1934, recent gelatin silver print
Andrew George, (Light Leaks)Toronto, 2003, C-print, ed of 12, 48 x 30 in
Robert Berman/E6 Gallery will mark its premiere exhibition in San Francisco with a 2-person show featuring photographs by legendary architectural photographer Julius Shulman and his protégé, Andrew George.
Shulman’s featured work includes 12 b&w images of architecture, design and locations mostly never before exhibited, taken in the mid-1930s during the time Shulman studied at Berkeley and resided in San Francisco. George will exhibit Light Leaks, 16 large-scale photographs that convey the simple yet profound ways light moves in quiet, interior spaces.
George, mentored during the last 25 years by Shulman, will share Berman’s gallery walls with his teacher for this historical exhibit. “With George in his late 30s and Shulman in his late 90s,” gallery owner Robert Berman comments, “the upcoming exhibit provides a unique perspective and interchange of both one of the world’s greatest architectural photographers, Julius Shulman, and his student, Andrew George. That George is a protégé of Shulman’s is immediately apparent. The photographs of each complement one another in their beauty and simplicity. Shulman’s iconic exteriors offset George’s transcendent interior moments caught in time”
Shulman’s early photographs of the Bay Area provide a historical pastiche of a place that Shulman would revisit throughout his career and a window into the development of the greatest architectural photographer of the 20th-century. Shulman, whose photographs have been featured in books by Rizzoli, Taschen, and Nazraeli Press, has said of George’s work that, “he has responded to an innate mastery of seeing, [and] thereby launched me into a sea of perception heretofore unexperienced! A unique impact for one with over six decades of photographic endeavors.”
Comprised of images taken in locations all over the world, Andrew George’s Light Leaks unveil large bursts of raw color and glowing light. The photographs capture illuminations that are both fleeting but entrancing, and each of the 4 x 3 foot prints engages viewers with a dynamic energy and an intense field of natural color.
featuring Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo,
and Gibby Haynes
Curated by Jon Cournoyer
February 28 - March 21, 2009
Galleries D5 and C2
The Exhibition
The Los Angeles Times calls the exhibition "an indie dream lineup"
Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Rock, Paper, Scissor on view February 28 – March 21, 2009. The show features noteworthy artists who freely use, base imagery on, thrive, and excel in both the mediums of visual art and music. The artists taking part in the show are Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.
This exhibition highlights these artists who in both the mediums of music and art have created a memorable and historical body of work and continue to do so. Born from outsider roots stemming from Los Angeles, New York and Texas, they blurred the boundaries of aural and visual expressions creating what would become a hallmark of material from the period of the 1980’s-1990’s, eventually being absorbed by both the mainstream public and art industries. It’s influences today are countless.
On exhibit are paintings, drawings, collages, hand-painted installation by Lee Ranaldo, a grand-scale wall mural by Raymond Pettibon and vitrines of vintage ephemerea and lyric sheets by Pettibon and Daniel Johnston/ Also a large collection or rare and early Daniel Johnston works, many of which have never been publicly exhibited, are also on view from the collection of Don Goede, co-author along with Tarssa Yazdan of the definitive book on the artist “Hi, How Are You?”. These works will be published in the next edition of this book as well.
The Niche Makers are a new collective revolving around the words and inspiration of internationally acclaimed artist Raymond Pettibon. An icon of contemporary art, Pettibon has exhibited at MOCA, SFMOMA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and his work is in the permanent collections of galleries and museums throughout the world. His early artistic roots lie in music, specifically in the Los Angeles punk rock scene, both designing artwork and performing along with brother Greg Ginn in Black Flag as well as designing artwork for other bands such as The Minutemen, SST Records' stable, Foo Fighters, and Sonic Youth among others. He has continually created music over the last twenty years under various band names and collaborated with the likes of Mike Watt, Firehose, and Unknown Instructors.
The band consists of the principal members above and frequently has special guests which partake in awkward performances and investigatory recording sessions. The compositions are choreographed to the endless pages of Pettibon's lyrics, either vocalized by himself or other Niche Makers, and are held together with a sound based on early New Orleans jazz and campfire spirituals. Members of the Niche Makers are simultaneously both seasoned and up and coming musicians in Los Angeles, taking part in other projects such as Old War Shirt, the Slings, and the Hootenanny All-Stars.
HUNTING AND GAMING Vanessa Prager and Kathy Grayson
January 24 - February 14, 2009
C2 Gallery Opening Reception: Saturday, January 24, 2009, 7 - 10pm
Hosted by Erika Christensen and Jeff Vespa Sponsored by:
Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present Hunting and Gaming: an exhibition of paintings by Kathy Grayson & Vanessa Prager. On view January 24 through February 14, 2009.
'Hunting and Gaming' explores the nature of sinister play. Vanessa Prager paints starkly lit scenes of surrealistic moments in daily life; untangling holiday decorations, playing with old toys, driving or chatting. But her odd theatrical arrangements suggest something creepy going on behind the innocent façade. Kathy Grayson explores various digital degradations whether with old family photographs re-imagined through early video gaming and green screen effects, with video game "death screens" or with quasi-abstract explosions of distorted video information. Memory and technology infect and distort each other in her uncanny panel paintings.
Vanessa Prager lives and works in Los Feliz. At just 24 years old, this ambitious, self-taught artist has five years of exhibitions under her belt in alternative venues and galleries throughout Los Angeles, as well as notable magazine collaborations, and a long list of eminent collectors.
Kathy Grayson has lived and worked in New York after graduating from Dartmouth College in 2002. She has recently exhibited work at Colette in Paris, at O.H.W.O.W. in Miami, at Park Life in San Francisco, and at Kim Light gallery in Los Angeles. Recent articles on her work have appeared in Dazed and Confused, i-D and Tokion magazine. Her work is in the collection of Microsoft.
Shawn Barber, Christian Clayton, Rob Clayton, Bob Dob,
Shepard Fairey, Frank Kozik, Tara McPherson, Alex Pardee,
David Trulli, Mark Dean Veca, Oliver Vernon
Artwork is for sale.
Portion of proceeds donated to Art Matters.
www.rebelartshow.com
30th Anniversary Exhibition, Part 1 Group exhibition of selected photography and photo based works featuring:
Alex Prager, Jeff Charbonneau & Eliza French, Andres Serrano, Rafael Serrano, Man Ray, William Wegman, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha, Dennis Hopper, Edmund Teske, Shirin Neshat, Christopher Felver, E.T. Risk, Harry Bowers, Lauren Marsolier, Marc Fichou, John Colao, Marla Rutherford, Dietrich Wegner, Cameron Gray, Gerald Slota, Chin-Chin Wu, Hana Jakralova D5 Gallery
January 24 - February 5, 2009
January 21-29, 2009
Downtown Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA
BOOTH #C109 laartshow.com
Barker Hanger, Santa Monica, CA
January 9 - 11, 2009 artfairsinc.com
Andrew Foster Deep Thoughts
November 15 - ongoing
C2 Gallery
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 15, 7:00-9:00pm
Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to announce “Deep Thoughts”, an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles based artist Andrew Foster. Deep Thoughts displays the artist's current leaning towards a traditional mode of creating 'picturesque' works on canvas. Foster considers his new paintings an exploration of nostalgia and an attempt, in the words of Pierre Bonnard, "to escape the monotony of life."
Though light and whimsy in tone, Foster maintains his sardonic sense of humor. He employs a romanticized palette referencing Rococo and Impressionism with themes that revolve around overtly joyous, day dreaming girls who frolic and lounge in idealistic landscapes. Following the tradition that a young painter should copy from the work of past masters, there is an instant and romantic familiarity deeply rooted in each painting. Many of Foster's works are constructed with derivative subjects, themes, and compositions from 19th and early 20th century paintings coupled with ingenuous scenarios. Resurrecting a state of adolescence, boundless yet tumultuous, we are prompted to escape. He weaves in and out of reality but remains distant from surrealism’s visual tricks, obscurities, and cluttered imagery. Foster defines memory, familiarity, history, and paint as the vehicle for his process.
Andrew Foster received his BFA in 2004 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Foster's work has been exhibited in galleries such as Earl McGrath Gallery, (West Hollywood), Jonathan LeVine Gallery (NY), Merry Karnowsky Gallery (LA), George Billis Gallery (LA), and included in ARTNOW Fair (Basel, Miami) and Red Dot Fair (NY) among others. In past years, curators Mark Murphy and Brad Benedict have included Foster's works in their exhibits.
View works from this exhibition
Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL
December 3 - 7, 2008 BOOTH #304 artfairsinc.com
Tyson Grumm Anthropomorphism 01
November 15 - December 6, 2008
D5 Gallery
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 15, 5:00-7:00pm
The Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present a new collection of paintings by Tyson Grumm entitled Anthropomorphism 01. Viewing an exhibition by Tyson Grumm is momentarily entering a fantastical world of unique characters, wild animals, nostalgic objects and textural environments created entirely in the mind of the artist. These well-rendered, contemporary Surrealist works are freeze-frame glimpes of these elements humorously and mysteriously orchestratred inside de Chirico-esque landscapes and architectural surroundings. Exploring these works reveals a story that is only partially told, enabling the viewer to contribute their own unique perceptions to the completion of each of Grumm’s works.
As the artist states, "The stories being told in each painting are created without preconceived planning. I add each element until I see a story. I enjoy forming the story, or parable, step-by-step with found imagery, animals interacting with humans and whatever grabs my eye. Often I keep in mind an overall theme, which in this case is parables told around the nooks, crannies, and niches of walls. This basic theme gives me focus, and a starting point, and from there, the story evolves itself. The characters, animals, and people that fall into these niches are created with a variety of intellectual range, and sometime seem to know what’s going on a lot more than you, or even me, the creator. I find this irony critical to the statements they seem to be making."
The artist not only renders objects such as maps, antique scientific instruments and books that he has collected throughout his life into the scenes but also chooses the actual frames that company the paintings. Hand-collected, reworked and carefully chosen, the frames help to enhance the personality and meaning of the paintings, the end result being not just paintings alone but objects of splendor, wonder, and amusement.
This is Tyson Grumm’s 3rd solo exhibition at the Robert Berman Gallery. His exhibitions, which consistently sell out, have also shown in San Francisco, Oregon, Washington and Internationally as well. The artist was recently the recipient of the 2008 PONCHO IFA Artistic Merit Award.
C H A NG E A M E RI C A A Group Exhibition
October 4 extended through November 8, 2008
D5 Gallery
Opening Reception: Saturday, Oct 4, 2008, 3 - 5 pm
The Robert Berman Gallery has designated our D5 gallery at Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica, California, for an exhibit entitled "Change America." This collection of political art explores the momentum for renewed hope and the promise of America, emphasizing the theme of change. It also is an indictment against the arrogance of power and overt corruption by an administration that has weakened the Constitution and threatened Democracy.
The power of art is compelling. It challenges people to think and to act at important times. This is such a time, to effect change that America so desperately needs.
On view will be works by Banksy, Richard Serra, Andy Warhol, Raymond Pettibon, Robert Rauschenberg, Ron English, Shepard Fairy, Jim Shaw, Robbie Conal, Dietrich Wegner, Gomez Bueno, Britt Ehringer, Robert Indiana, Kerr+Malley, Arnold Mesches, Antony Micallef, David Trulli, Daniel Martinez, RJ Berman, J Colao, Michele Pred, Ellwood T. Risk, Cameron Gray, Bill Barminski, Vanessa Prager & others
"Vote Obama" graces the cover of the November 2008 issue of THE Magazine:
As of this writing the stock market is down, no up, no down again . . . oh, forget it.
Lots of uncertainty is in the air; although Barack Obama is ahead in the polls, and the election is less than one week and many commercials away, you never, ever know. People are nervous about the economy, nervous about the future, just nervous about everything.
Take a trip back to 1972. People were nervous then, too. Nervous about the Vietnam War, nervous about Palestinian terrorists that killed Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, and, just like today, Americans were nervous about the presidential election. You had Nixon lovers and Nixon haters, McGovern lovers and haters-sound familiar? But, unlike today, back in 1972 the public school system was still exceptional, medical coverage was affordable, and your home was somewhere you lived, not just an investment.
Our cover image is based on Andy Warhol's Vote McGovern from 1972. Robert Berman came up with the idea, and enlisted artist John Colao to bring the concept to life. Berman says, "Andy Warhol's Nixon poster was the first time that I know of where an image of the opposition, an obvious anti-hero, had been used on a political poster. This was Warhol's only blatant political endorsement to my knowledge, using irony by portraying a face that people disliked-it would be the last thing you would want on your wall. The obvious choice for our poster would be McCain of course, but what we want to portray here through the Bush image is that McCain is just more of the same."
Through art-be it painting, song, dance, film, or a multitude of other mediums-the artist informs, engages, enrages, entertains, uplifts, and, hopefully, makes folks think. People may not always like the result, but what's important is that the artist gets to create and the audience gets to think for themselves. You can't please everybody. As Bob Dylan, one of the great artists of our time, once said, "You're nobody if you don't get booed sometime."
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Laurie Rosenthal, Editor-in-Chief lrosenthal@themagla.com
Artillery Magazine: Change America exhibition video Video by Steve Cioffi
Alex Steinweiss: Creator of the Album Cover Original album covers, paintings and collages
by Alex Steinweiss
And special tribute by selected artists.
Co-Curated by Kevin Reagan and Greg Escalante January 19 - February 23, 2008
Before Alex Steinweiss invented the album cover
in 1938, at the age of 23, all albums came in
plain brown wrappers. Steinweiss's idea to create
a package that had something visual on the outside
to lure the consumer was a huge success.
*view selected STEINWEISS images from the exhibition
An exhibition featuring the work of select members of the notorious
Seventh Letter (T7L) graffiti collective. Within the Seventh Letter collective is an elite crew known as Angels Will Rise (AWR), who have established themselves as L.A.’s most influential modern
muralists.
The show will consist of a floor-to-ceiling mural installation constructed by AWR members:
Pusher, Zeser, Krush, Rime, Saber, Revok, Retna, Reyes, Skrew, Sever and Ewok.
Curated by Brett Aronson
WeAreTheSuperlativeConspiracy March 1 – March 15th, 2008
ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY is pleased to announce a group
show curated by Alex Prager with artists from
WeAreTheSuperlativeConspiracy (WeSC).
M.S. Garvey's Letters to the President with the Hootenanny All-Stars
Produced by Ice Hat Creative & The Robert Berman Gallery
Electric Lodge, Venice, CA
November 29, 30th and
December 1, 2, 6 - 9th, 2007
Green Curated by Mark Murphy November 17 - December 22, 2007
**View selected images and more information PHOTO MIAMI - Featuring the work of Alex Prager December 3 - 10, 2007 Marischa SlusarskiThe Bruise of Human Contact October 13- November 3, 2007
Cameron Gray Mise en Scene October 13- November 3, 2007
Eric Orr A Survey of Works September 8 - October 6, 2007
The Robert Berman Gallery is pleased to present a survey of works by artist Eric Orr (1939-1998). Part of the Southern California Light and Space movement of the 1960s-70s.
Alex Prager POLYESTER April 21 – May 12, 2007 Los Angeles based photographer Alex Prager uses a cinematic approach in her vivid, intriguing, still imagery. Stories unfold with each photograph that stimulate the senses and playful yet bizarre scenes are a balancing act between fantasy and reality.
Figment - Group Exhibition featuring works by Marie-Claire Bozant (seattle, wa) Jeff Charbonneau & Eliza French (los angeles, ca) Reeve Schumacher (miami, fl) Erika Somogyi (new york, ny),
Curated by Ashley Lauren Saks & Jon Cournoyer
Feb 17 - Mar 10, 2007
Paul Bob Velick - Fireworks, A Studio Fire Installed February 17 - March 10 , 2007
Daniel Kaufman - Encaustic Perceptions January 20 - February 10, 2007
2006
Koji Takei - New Works December 2 - January 15, 2006
(Berman/Turner Projects) Friendly Fire: Four from the East Curated by Jonathan Levine
October 14 - November 11, 2006
(Berman/Turner Projects) Ron English - New Works October 14- November 11, 2006
(Berman/Turner Projects) Robert Sean Coons - Deceptions September 9 - October 14, 2006
(Berman/Turner Projects) Don Sorenson - Retrospective
April 22 - May 20
(Berman/Turner Projects) Queen of the Night, Women under the Influence 1963-2006 Curated by Elk
April 21 - May 13 , 2006
(Berman/Turner Projects) Elizabeth Tinglof - Mersion March 11 - April 8, 2006
(Berman/Turner Projects)
2005
Tyson Grumm - New Paintings November 19 - December 17, 2005
(Berman/Turner Projects) Bill Barminski - About Face September 9 - October 4, 2005
(Berman/Turner Projects) Ellwood T. Risk - Loaded July 9 - August 9, 2005
(Berman/Turner Projects) Flow Curated by Peter Frank
July 23 - August 23, 2005
(Berman/Turner Projects)
Britt Ehringer - Baghdad Pizza Hut May 14 - June 14, 2005
(Berman/Turner Projects) Timothy Greenfield-Sanders - XXX: 30 Porn Star Portraits April 2 - May 8, 2005
(Berman/Turner Projects) Jorg Dubin - Out of Bounds February 5 - March 3, 2005
