Tosh Berman's Blog, page 148
November 14, 2018
Tosh on Tour for "Tosh: Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World" 2019
Thursday, January 31, 2019 at 7pm San Francisco, CA: City Lights Bookstorewww.citylights.com
We are looking forward to celebrating TOSH, published by City Lights! Tosh Berman will be in conversation with Natalia Mount, Executive Director, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland
Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 7:30pm Los Angeles, CA: Skylight Bookswww.skylightbooks.com
In conversation with actor Jason Schwartzman. Skylight is located at1 818 N Vermont Avenue. For more info: events@skylightbooks.com & 323-660-1175.
Friday February 1, 2019, 7pm Berkeley, CA: Moe's Bookstorehttp://www.moesbooks.com
Moe's is located at 2476 Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. For more info contact Owen Hill owenmoes@gmail.com.
Monday, February 4th, 7:30pm Portland, OR: Powell's on Hawthornehttp://www.powells.com/calendar
Tosh Berman in conversation with Kevin Sampsell about his new book, Tosh: Growing Up In Wallace Berman's World. Powell's on Hawthorne is located at 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214. For more info contact: jeremy.garber@powells.com.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 7pm West Hollywood, CA: Book Souphttps://www.booksoup.com/event
Book Soup is located at 8818 Sunset Blvd. For more info contact Jen Ramos at jramos@vromansbookstore.com.
Tuesday Feb 19th, 7:30pm New York NY: Aeon Bookshttps://aeonbookstore.com/
Aeon Books is located at 151 E Broadway New York, NY 10002. For more info 917 675 7523 & info@aeonbookstore.com
Thursday, February 21st at 7pm Brooklyn, NY: McNally Jacksonhttps://www.mcnallyjackson.com/event
Tosh Berman in conversation with Gillian McCain. McNally Jackson's Williamsburg store is located at 76 N 4th Street Brooklyn NY 11249. For more info 718 387 0115 & events.mcnallyjackson@gmail.com
Saturday, February 23rd 3:00-5:00pm Long Island City, NY: ARTBOOK @ MoMA PS1 Bookstorehttp://www.artbook.com/artbookps1.html
ARTBOOK @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore is located at 22-25 Jackson Ave (at 46th Ave.) Long Island City, NY 11101. For questions about the event: booksmomaps1@artbook.com T (718) 433-1088
Saturday, March 9th, 3-5pm Los Angeles, CA: ARTBOOK @Hauser & Wirthhttp://www.artbook.com/artbook-hws-la.html
Tosh Berman in conversation with Claudia Bohn-Spector. ARTBOOK @Hauser & Wirth is located at 917 East 3rd Street Los Angeles CA 90013. For more info 213-988-7413 or contact Lacy Soto lsoto@artbook.com
For more information, check out http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100746120&fa=events&fbclid=IwAR10Q5i_uPZp4_hfPBonZ4mYrbLaRtGEQAnXIa3CivaunNy92tiEPcJjDjo#.W-xQkc6SnCo.facebook
Flashback: Issue 3, Spring 2013
As a music listener and a consumer, I'm fascinated with music culture. Throughout my life I have purchased teen magazines like "16" to "KRLA Beat," to "Rolling Stone," and then, of course, the weekly British music newspapers like "Melody Maker" and New Music Express (NME). As I got older, I became devoted to "MOJO" and "Uncut," which covers pop music from the past in an extensive manner. I'm also a fan of "UGLY THINGS," which covers 1960s garage rock in a moment-by-moment detail. I thought that was enough for my music-reading experience until I found myself with an issue of "FLASHBACK" Spring, 2013.
"FLASHBACK"s focus is on psychedelic rock/pop music culture of the 1960s and 1970s. What makes the magazine unique is the intense focus on that subject matter, but also the number of pages it focuses on the artists on hand as well as the culture surrounding that band/artist. The issue of "FLASHBACK" I have is 208 pages, where 39, some fully illustrated with photos, or original reprints of that era, pages on the band Mighty Baby, who also is on the front cover of the magazine. Now, if you are like me, who in the hell is Mighty Baby, and why do they warrant 39 pages (with no ads mind you)? A band so obscure, that getting the original vinyl can cost anywhere from $246 to $674 for their debut album "Mighty Baby." And according to Discogs, there are only five listings for sales for this album. So, it's a rarity. "Flashback" is willing to put Mighty Baby on its cover than Syd Barrett, who has a significant article as well within and with 13 pages.
What attracts me to this particular issue is its obsession with their subject matter. Syd Barrett is the only artist that is represented in this issue that I know of, and all the other pages are devoted to artists that I may have heard of in passing or none at all. Speaking which, the Barrett article is excellent. It's an interview with the late Malcolm Jones, who was part of the Harvest label and produced half of the "Madcap Laughs," Syd's first solo album. His insight into the making of the album gives me additional pleasure in hearing it again. Then again, maybe I should track down Mighty Baby as well?
The beauty of FLASHBACK is their intense method of covering their music and bands/artists in a full reporting style. Nothing is half-done, and they are not weary of putting many pages together talking about Mighty Baby and others. As a casual reader of this issue, I couldn't put it down. I found Mighty Baby's history fascinating as well as on the other obscure bands such as San Francisco's The Common People, who within its 23 pages covers their career as well as being a bizarre rip-off of Moby Grape. There is also a tremendous 23-page article on rock biographies/memoirs that is equally fascinating. And an article (10-pages) on an obscure weekly music newspaper "Top Pops" which eventually became "Music Now."
Before I even got half-way through this issue, that I went online and ordered every back issue that is still in print. I feel such obsession needs to be supported by another obsessive fellow (yours truly).
For more info on FLASHBACK and other issues: http://www.flashbackmag.com
November 10, 2018
Tosh Berman on GROWING UP IN WALLACE BERMAN'S WORLD!
Tosh Berman on GROWING UP IN WALLACE BERMAN'S WORLD!: Hello everyone! I talked with Tosh Berman, an influential and beloved member of the Los Angeles literary scene, on his new book entitled, Tosh: Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World. This book is a masterful story of growing up as the son of the well-known artist Wallace Berman, who is often referred to as the creator of Assemblage Art and was a beloved figure in the early 'beatnik' or hippie scene in California. Tosh recounts his unique childhood and talks openly about the cavalcade of luminaries that visited his home, his father's influence in the art world, and the impact of Wallace's untimely death on the young Tosh. Tosh: Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World is published by City Lights books, and is a beautifully written, honest, and endearing memoir of a unique upbringing. The book will be available on Amazon and directly from the publisher. You can learn more about Tosh's book, and Tosh himself, here: http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=... Thank you, and enjoy the show!
November 2, 2018
"Places of My Infancy" by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (New Directions)
Looking for a small book in size to read on the subway trips from Manhattan to Bushwick, I picked up the elegant Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's miniature memoir of his childhood "Places of My Infancy." The most remarkable aspect of this book is that it's not about people. It is about his home, or one should say estate in Italy during the turn of the Century.
Reading this I reminded of "Against Nature" by Huysmann, but this is the real deal. At least through the eyes of an adult looking back at his life as a child. Detailed architectural accounts of various rooms, including the dining room which has life-sized portraits of the owners (the first ones) eating their meals. One would think why they would want a painting of themselves eating in a room where you actually take your meal? But that's the charm of the super rich - if one could even use the word super in this category, it's more super-duper.
In his house, he had a theater that can hold 300 people, and his family would allow traveling theater people to do shows for the local citizens. Some rich, but a lot were peasants. Eventually, the theater became a movie theater. Di Lampedusa has a way to comment on changes that he remembers through his childhood.
In the book, di Lampedusa admits that he is more attached to things than humans, and this is very much the tale of things - most cases the architecture of his home as a child, including detailed descriptions of rooms, furniture, etc. But the truth (as he knows as well) that 'things' can tell a narrative better than a human at times. Remarkable book.
"Places of My Infancy" is an influence on my childhood/teenage memoir "Tosh" (City Lights Publications). Focusing on my youth, I realize, after reading this book, that placement or the landscape is equally as important as the characters that are in my book. I read "Places of My Infancy" in 2012, as I was writing my many drafts of "Tosh." An essential book for me as a writer.
October 29, 2018
Tosh, Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World
Tosh, Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World
If you wish to purchase my book "Tosh: Growing Up in Wallace Berman's World" by pre-ordering it, you can do so on this City Lights page. Just follow the link above. The consumer will be notified when the book is released as well as getting a 30% discount off the retail cost of $16.95. As an author, I like to support the publisher as well as the indie-bookshops in real locations, as well as some of the hipper-retail locations on the web. Thank you in advance - Tosh Berman
October 4, 2018
Wallace Berman Curator Sophie Dannenmuller on Tosh Talks
Wallace Berman Curator Sophie Dannenmuller on Tosh Talks
Sophie Dannenmuller is an expert on my father the artist Wallace Berman as well as curating three Berman exhibitions at the Galerie Frank Elbaz in Paris. The current show that is up now (until October 11, 2018) is called "Visual Music." It focuses on the connection between Wallace's visual sensibility and his love of music, that is very much part of his art. Sophie and I talk in great detail about Berman's art, as well as the culture surrounding Wallace, such as the Beat Generation, and figures like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsburg, William Burroughs and so forth. I'm very happy how this conversation turned out, and I think one who has an interest in the Beat Artists and beyond, will find this fascinating. Your host Tosh Berman, Tosh Talks.
The painting behind us is by the artist Jean-Francois Le Merrer.
September 24, 2018
"Wallace Berman: Visual Music" by Sophie Dannenmüller (Frank Elbaz Gallery)
For those who are interested, you can obtain the catalog to my dad's (Wallace Berman) show at the Galerie Frank Elbaz website. It's a limited edition with a beautiful essay by Sophie Dannenmüller who also curated the exhibition. Get it here:
https://www.galeriefrankelbaz.com/469/galerie-frank-elbaz-wallace-berman-visual-music
September 23, 2018
September 23, 2018 / Tosh's Diary (Paris/Los Angeles)
September 23, 2018
The flight was somewhere between 10 and 11 hours long, and it was boring as hell. The service on the airline Air France was outstanding. But there were delays at the airport, and the plane took off about an hour late. The Charles DeGaulle airport is enormous of course, but one of the interesting aspects of its architecture is the wooden ceilings. At LAX Bradley terminal I feel we are in a series of confined spaces, but the vastness of the boarding gate in Paris is immense, and it actually becomes a vanishing point when you look in the front of you.
As one gets to their seat, you are confronted by a lack of space, but I’m mentally prepared for that. I brought two books with me for the reading. The main book is Alexander Trocchi’s “Cain’s Book” which I purchased in a bookstore in Paris called the Red Wheelbarrow. Across from the Lexingburg Gardens. As far as I know, or at least on this trip, I came upon four English language bookstores. All were good. Any John Calder publication is a good book. It’s the British version of Grove Press or the sister or brother of that excellent publishing house. Calder had an extraordinary vision as a publisher. I still haven’t finished the book, and every time I feel sleepy, I try to close my eyes to drift off to sleep.
Nevertheless, sleep is impossible for me on a plane. My sense of travel is being at a location. I don’t actually like the physical aspect of traveling. I hate luggage. I really don’t like airports. I loathe going through security. And I generally don’t enjoy the ride to or from the airport. I love being at my destination. But the compromise to get to that direction of the destination is a horror show for me. I envy fictional characters like James Bond, or Tom Cruise in “Mission Impossible,” where there is a subtitle that says “Berlin,” and therefore you know the main character is there in that city. I too want to travel in such a manner where a subtitle shows up under my body, and I’m immediately at that location. You never see Bond buying a plane ticket or waiting at the airport. Nor is he busy making sure he has a European wall plug for his laptop computer. The one groovy thing I do have is that I rent a portable wi-fi set. I discovered this when I went to Japan, and in that country, there is not that many ‘hot spots’ for internet use. Carrying this small pocket-sized wi-fi is a dream. The battery lasts for six hours, so one should turn it off when not in use. Other then that, it’s perfect.
We got back home around 10 PM, and I drank a few glasses of wine, checked my e-mail, and tried to feel like I was back home in Los Angeles. My brain was here, but my body thought it was still walking on Germain-des-Prés. I have a hard time with jet-lag. Forcing the body and mind to be in one place is a problem for me. I heard one should just drink water on the jet, but of course, I drank wine. It’s free on international flights! Still, I don’t think I can ever beat this feeling of being displaced in time and space. I got up early and went to work at ARTBOOK (917 E 3RD Street, Los Angeles 90013) to take images for me to write about - and then I walked around Downtown Los Angeles. It still feels like I was in Paris. Even though I was walking down Spring Street, I felt the next corner will be rue Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement. Which by the way is named after Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, an 18th-century German-born French industrialist. He invented the first machine for printing wallpaper.
Lun*na and I went to the Tony Berlant opening at the Kohn Gallery (North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles 90038) and the dinner afterward at Michael and Caroline’s home for the artist. The show is pretty great. Tony’s work is basically collaged with images printed on metal, or tin, and put together by steel brads, which gives the art a multi-textural feel. Some are flat pieces while others are sculptures. Also, I really like the works that are horizontal when placed on the wall. They stick out so one can see both sides of the artwork. So, in a sense, they are sculptural, but flat as well. Interesting combination. I made a note to myself to come back to the exhibition to spend more time with the art. Tosh Berman
September 21, 2018
Chris Curtis and Board Games on Tosh Talks
Chris Curtis is a great friend of mine, and someone I admire, due to being a great human being, but also his taste which is very articulate and refined to a perfect point in his ability to express what he likes and why. His current passion is board games, which is a subject I knew nothing about. After watching this show the viewer will be fascinated with the board games history, and it's cultural importance in society. We discuss my favorite childhood games that came from TV shows from the 60s and beyond, but Chris gets into the nitty-gritty of the gaming world. - Tosh Berman, your host for Tosh Talks.
