The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 15 December 2023
by Tosh Berman
Wallace Berman was a mid-century Los Angeles artist who created inventive collages and semi-abstract works with found items, language, and agglomerated imagery that commented on the fringes of the culture of his times. He is most associated with the Beatniks, and the culture of Laurel and Topanga Canyons in the 1950s and 1960s. His life was cut short at the age of 50 in an automobile accident. While prolific in his art, Berman didn't play the game of big art galleries, shows and publicity, and so he is lesser known today, even as the regard for his work has increased over the years. He rubbed elbows with movie stars and musicians, some of whom were freinds of the Berman family; everyone from Dean Stockwell to the Rolling Stones. He had his role to play in the vibrant cultural froth of LA's canyons, and any story about him will be rich with art and fame of that time.
Born in the late 1950s, Berman's son, Tosh, was therefore a wide-eyed witness to the life of those times. He was also son of a driven, somewhat self-absorbed, and evidently distracted father. Wallace was involved in the arts and music scene that thrived in LA. It isn't clear from young Berman's writing, whether he was truly absent or if it just seems so because of the way the tale is written from the point of view of a boy and young man trying to find his own way in a turbulent time. But Tosh is forgiving his father his human faults and the self-absorption of an artist. Wallace refused to partake in the little annoyances of modern life. He would sit outside in the car while mom and son took care of school business. His visits to relatives seemed perfunctory. He didn't want to play the game of big time art galleries, and while that resulted in some innovative artistic maneuvers, it also made income unstable and often reliant on the kindness of others. Tosh forgives these challenges by recognizing the humanity of his parents and their own life challenges. This unsettled environment can make for both a rich childhood, as well as one of instability and uncertainty. Indeed, all of the photographs of young Tosh in this book show a pretty sad boy. While Tosh Berman is sensitive and revealing about his own emotional journey, he leaves gaps in understanding his father, and the reader may feel something vital is missing: Wallace Berman's voice.
But, we do get Tosh's voice, which seems to come at a whisper through his story. We see his struggles with school, with working and with his inner fears and phobias. He does OK with the girls, which is consolation in the 60s and early 70s. But one can't help but notice the weird note of his father trying to get him work in a beauty college. Tosh survives, even thrives in his way, in music, arts and writing. It is yet clear that his father's life and untimely death cast a long shadow over his life.
(Fans of the band Queen may take issue with Tosh's opinions on music.)
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