Lester Berman, Artist, Abstract Paintings, Acrylics on Paper, Reviews

Lester Berman - Artist

MUY CALIENTE EN SANTA FE

”I’m excited to tell you about a “find”, an unexpected treasure, if you will – on Alameda. There, I met Lester Berman, an abstract expressionist whose paintings were some of the most unique I have seen in a long time. To me, you have to be a really, really good artist to accomplish really good abstract art, and Berman does this…. His colors are exciting, and his compositions draw you into the work and transport you around in it. ….. If you get a chance, check out his paintings which can also be seen at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.”
Shari R. Morrison, Publisher, ART-TALK February 2003

Excerpts from: New Art International, Volume VI 2000-2001

(A Compendium of Recent Works by World Contemporary Artists)
Book Art Press, Publishers New York

“In the work of such artists as Lester Berman, we find an exaltation of spontaneity which unleashes forms sensed before seen, vehement currents summoned from within, sensitive and appreciative replies to inarticulate questions, motiveless acquisitions of intangible respects. Departing the rational to absolve the contradiction of a ‘thoughtless art’ driven by ideas, here we find traces from the essence of untrussed and unstipulated human spirit on courses which precede the predicament of sentience.

From the bottomless wellspring of the subconscious, which Berman has stocked with reactive imprints stored from his world travels, Berman rigorously stirs a pool of intuition to explore the unleashed prospects of visual sensation…Where objective signals flare from impassioned formal gesture, an impetuous emphasis of mind remelts the spatial dynamic for instant reassembly.

Abstract art is an effort to close the void that modern men feel. Its abstraction is its emphasis. The excursions of Lester Berman carry this definition with a charged dignity. The simultaneous combined effect of interacting elements in his paintings besiege the viewer with feelings beyond what Rothko termed the ‘nostalgic imitations of a half-lit-world’ in representational art; with motion beyond the incommunicableness of the human figure, frozen in paint, unable to stretch its arms; with questions that would be muted by restriction of the physical world.

When the viewer leaves the familiar world to enjoy the autonomous power of color in Berman’s work, the points of support within his compositions which ignore, without losing, elements of psychology, the painter is met halfway. The dance floor is leveled and a demand is placed upon the viewer which is too rarely noticed in representational art. The paintings speak but not to one’s consciousness; they ask questions of the viewer that cannot be heard but only sensed. In imitation of the artist’s process, they request viewers to forget they are looking at a painting in order to be able to feel a painting.”

“Los Angeles Artist Lester Berman’s Work Wins
Place In Highly Competitive International Exhibition”

“An untitled work in acrylic on paper by Los Angeles artist Lester Berman is on view in Abstraction for a New Millennium an international juried exhibition at The Stage Gallery in Merrick, New York. It is one of twenty-six pieces selected from 2009 works of art submitted from all over the world. The exhibition was selected by eminent guest curator, Anne Ellegood, Assistant Curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Soho, New York City. “
(January 28, 200l)

NEW DIRECTIONS ’2K
CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION

“We are pleased to announce that your painting “Passages”, was selected for inclusion in NEW DIRECTIONS ’2K, our national juried contemporary fine art exhibition. Your painting was selected by: Lisa Messinger, Curator, Department of Modern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. We would like to stress that your inclusion in this exhibition is no small achievement”
(November 4, 2000)

“California Artist Lester Berman Receives Award”

“At the gala opening and awards ceremony on Sunday December 3^rd, painter, sculptor and printmaker Peter Alexander presented California artist Lester Berman, with the prestigious Eric Schneirsohn Memorial Award for his painting PASSAGES, which was chosen from more than 1,000 paintings submitted for inclusion in Brand XXV, Special Twenty-Fifth Exhibition.”
(January 9, 1996)

“Charlotta Kotik, Curator, Painting and Sculpture,
“Congratulations!”

“Pleiades Gallery, 591 Broadway, New York, NY is pleased to inform you that your art work UNTITLED II, 1993 has been selected to be included in the 13^th Annual Juried Exhibition juried by Charlotta Kotik, Curator, Painting and Sculpture, The Brooklyn Museum.”
( June 24, 1995)

“Berman’s Painting Selected”

“Ceres Gallery, 584-586 Broadway, New York, NY is pleased to exhibit the paintings, drawings, photographs and sculpture of 46 artists from 16 states in the gallery’s Fourth National Juried Exhibition…Abstraction, in its various forms seems to be one of the major presence here from, the ’’transcendental search for pure beauty…to the powerfully rich and thick black and white rectangular smears in acrylic on paper by Lester Berman…” The juror, Beth Handler, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture at the The Museum of Modern Art, New York states:

“Ceres’ Fourth National Juried Exhibition offered me a unique opportunity to witness a lively and serious devotion to contemporary art across the nation. It is an art that refuses to conform to any one category, and that ingeniously reflects and challenges current trends or gallantly disregards them. The breadth of the entries was astonishing…” - Beth Handler (June 21, 1995)

“THE BEST OF TIMES”

“Lester Berman was honored by the Bank of Los Angeles in Beverly Hills with an impressive exhibit of his paintings. My favorite, which, incidentally is also that of the artist, is “Nijinsky’s Dream.” And judging by his enthusiastic admiration, it is also Sidney Beckerman’s favorite. At $10,000, it is a bargain. Mr. Berman’s paintings have been exhibited previously in New York – a solo exhibition at the Costantini Gallery—and this year at the Springfield Missouri Art Museum and the San Diego Museum of Art. As an artist, Mr. Berman’s work shows great sensitivity. He is born under the sign of Cancer in the Zodiac. Just as Picasso got a lot of help from Gertrude Stein in the early days of his career, Mr. Berman would be lucky to have the support of an important writer such as Sidney Sheldon. Mr. Berman’s studio is in Venice, California.” - Richard Gully, Beverly Hills (213), December 4, 1995

“The preview and reception for the artist, Lester Berman was hosted by M. J. Burford, Chairman of the Board of Bank of Los Angeles on Friday December 1, 1995 at 7:00 PM.”