The one pictured above is from my private collection and is entitled: Nanuuq's Heart.
The display will run until November 31st. and prices are available upon request @ the front desk. Gourds will also be available for purchase Saturday, December 4th @ the Library during the Friends of the Library Holiday Booksale. A portion of the gourd sales will be donated to the Friends of the La Canada Flintridge Library
An Exhibition of Erotic (Vulgar) Art Robert Berman Gallery Bergamot Station January - February 2010
Benny was my uncle and this is a showing of his work.... There is a partial exhibition of his anti-war assemblage (which was always on display in his home) in one part of the gallery. Unfortunately the "Ace" (the premier piece of the anti-war collection) being displayed in Utah.
But there is a second room filled with the smaller playing cards depicting totally graphic sexual scenes and several larger than life paintings of the same genre.
The work itself is excellent, tight and has an excellent use of color and flow, but the content is vulgar and not to my taste. The curator Hal Glicksman notes the work as "Erotic", but I have to disagree....
According to Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: erot·ic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈrä-tik\
Variant(s): also erot·i·cal \-ti-kəl\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Greek erōtikos, from erōt-, erōs
Date: 1651
1: of, devoted to, or tending to arouse sexual love or desire
Although, the word relates to sexual desire...the Greek origin included "love" in the meaning...
I believe that Ben's work had nothing to do with love, but was given to blatant male sexual desire without the least iota of love. There was nothing amatory about these works of art. It is raw cold calculated maleness depicted in a harsh, angry, and violent manner, which can be disturbing to a sensitive palate.
Keeping that in mind, the art technique is right on top, the portrayal is just as Benny wanted it to be, so then this exhibition is a success (albeit one that is cold and without heart) even if not to my taste.
What would have made this a better all around show would have been that Hal Glicksman had called those of us who are in ownership of Benny's other works and had displayed them as well. This would have presented Benny as a more rounded artist rather than presenting him as the deviant fanatic he became in the years prior to his death.
ɪk/ 
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