BERMAN, Wallace; McKINNON, Sophia (ed.)
Wallace Berman. Off the Grid

Wallace Berman (1926–76) was a notorious guru of the 1960s art pantheon. Often cited as a West Coast Beat Generation artist who rubbed elbows with the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Dennis Hopper and the Rolling Stones, his contributions transcend the comparisons of his aesthetic and the associations that he kept. A self-taught artist, Berman was influenced by Surrealism, Dadaism and the Kabbalah, as well as jazz music and the mystical symbols and popular imagery of his time.

Berman is best known for publishing Semina – and for his signature motif, which comes from a reappropriated Sony advertisement picturing a hand holding a transistor radio, which he found in 1964. By removing the speaker grill and inserting random appropriated images, the hand shuffles up messages that appear to spring out of the ether. His early use of the gridding technique creates a visual cacophony that barrages the senses. [publishers’ note]

This book follows the eponymous 2021 show at TOTAH; it includes a partial transcript of a conversation between Tosh Berman (Wallace Berman’s son) and Andrew Lampert, moderated by poet Anne Waldman, about Berman’s rare short film Aleph (1956-66), as well as a conversation between David Totah and Tosh Berman, a text by Saul Ostrow and a poem by Anne Waldman.

Published by TOTAH, 2024
Design by Arielle Zoeller
Monographs / Counterculture / Book Culture