About The Artist - Martin Bernstein

I am a Multimedia Artist

I began my art life as a painter. Early in the 70’s I stopped stretching my canvases. I wanted to get right to the act of painting and forgo the time it took to do all preparatory steps to make stretchers and preparing the canvases. All I really wanted to do was move paint from my brush to the canvas conveying some thoughts or ideas or feelings through that action. I wasn’t thinking about the finished product. I just wanted to paint. In order to accomplish this I had to go beyond the limitations of the rectangle. Just as a window offers an edited view of the natural world outside the walls of a building the stretched canvas limits the view of the painter’s inner nature that underlies the painting.

The body of work I made that preceded this change was in actuality a foreshadowing in this evolution of my breaking the frame. Many of the works at that time I left the centers of the paintings blank. I was leaving the natural canvas surfaces unpainted and was painting on and around the edges of these stretched pieces. These were geometric paintings and that work itself evoked other types of control not dissimilar from the window metaphor. I was working through the concept that the boundaries of the paintings were just as important to the whole as the grand surfaces of the “fronts”.

In order to express myself more fully as an artist painting on the square was not the most expressive way to be able to accomplish that. The deeper I was able to immerse myself in the experience of the painting the freer and freer my work became. As the canvas became less important as “the surface” anything and everything became a canvas. I saw no boundaries to the idea of what a finished work of art had to look like in form.

This seems to me that this is when I truly began to understand the need for myself to truly be a multimedia artist. Many of the things that had some sort of connection or certain meaning to me became fodder for canvases in order to explore the need for expression. This process allowed the elements of inspiration to became integrally tied to the finished pieces. Making these elements not just the provocation for the effort but directly involving them to the physical act of the expression.

Much of this flotsam had no regular form as a squared canvas does and became material for the installation works that would follow. On one level I understood the idea of the painted strings or fabrics or objects as a manifestation of the presentation of the actual act of the paint being flung from the brush to the object held in suspension, stopped in mid transit, echoing the dollops of paint and lines of color streaking through the air and the paint splashing onto its’ landing surfaces. As this process continued I began assembling and attaching together all these various and shapeless elements and objects into an abstraction of these growing sculptural elements creating environmental installation pieces.

As this process continued I wanted to escalate the celebratory qualities of it. I added mica, little sparkles of starlight, to my paints in order to release more light from within the colors themselves. And as the objects physicalized I began the use of pearls or gemstones as a more profound reflector of this concept both actuality and meteorically exposing an inner light.

Within this process as these painted and jeweled installations grew into full on living environments both with mixed actual and fantastical elements I realized the need to talk about the creatures who would have inhabited of these realms. To this ends I made entire outfits which were painted, feathered and bejeweled out of very similar elements which made up the installations.

Mythically speaking they represented what was a type of birth from the garden. To me these woman based creatures related something of the essence of the fairies in the wood in Midsummers Night Dream or say the Firebird in a Rite of Spring kind of influence.

Slowly these wearable coverings seemingly grown from these living environmental installations over time tightened up and tightened up to become more jewelry-like within this process.

Then as I worked with the gems and pearls and other precious and semi-precious elements my understanding about the gems and the importance of things like their clarity and with the pearls the nature of these living things escalated my appreciation of these various elements.

Mixing these together with the immutable qualities of golds the entire process became ultimately more relevant to me within my artworks. The possibility of this expression of the exaltation of the character within the wearer shown outwardly grew in importance and expression for me as a prime purpose as this celebratory nature of jewelry grew as the work morphed into fine jewelry.

This creative process I am highlighting was truly an organic evolution that progressed from the late 60s to the present.

Martin Bernstein

5/11/23

Resume:

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B O R N

April 2, 1949 Cincinnati, OH

R E S I D E N C E S

1980 – 1994 Los Angeles, CA

1994 – 2001 Miami, Fl

2001 – 2004 Touring USA 2004

2004-2021 Chicago, Il

2023- Belen, NM

E D U C AT I O N

1971, BFA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

1968 University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

M a r t i n L . B e r n s t e i n

S E L E C T E D S O L O G A L L E R Y E X H I B I T I O N S

Centerline 2019, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL

“Martin L.Bernstein New painting”, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL 2005/2006

A Personal Odyssee: Paintings, Jewelry and Mixed Media Installation by Martin Bernstein, Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 2005

“About Face”, ZBCenter for the Arts,

Martin L. Bernstein, Chicago, IL 2005 “Living”, ZBCenter for the Arts,

Martin L. Bernstein, Chicago, IL 2004 “Preview, Three facets of…”,

Martin L. Bernstein, ZBCenter for the Arts, Chicago, IL 2003 “Treasure Trove”, Objects, Jewelry by Martin Bernstein Oskar Friedl Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002

“PaperWork: An exhibition of Paper” Oskar Freidl Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002

“Surface to Earth” Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1999 “Kowargzie”, Stone by Stone Gallery, Dallas, TX 1997

“Victory:s Homage at the Battlement of Her Soul”, 8th Floor Gallery, NY, NY 1996

“Martin L. Bernstein on Canvas”, State – Thomas Gallery, Dallas, TX1996 “All That Glitter’s,The World of Martin Bernstein”, BP Gallery, Houston, TX 1996

“Lair”, Sally Sprout Gallery, Houston, TX 1995 “Jeweled Objects, Martin L. Bernstein”,

Main Street Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY 1994 “Martin Bernstein”, OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID

1990 “Marteanus”, Environmental Installation, Diverseworks, Houston, TX 1988

“Environmental Installations”, EM House, Los Angeles, CA 1987 “Under the Sun”, Otis-Parsons Gallery, Site- Installation, Los Angeles, CA 1987 “11-11,

Torrents,”Stock Exchange, Performance-Installation”, Los Angeles, CA 1986 1987

“Martin Bernstein” LACMA, Sales and Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1984

“Carmelita’s Jewels”, Nightscene, Beverly Hills, CA, Performance 1983

“Altered Image”, Newport Art Museum Rental Gallery, Newport Beach, CA 1982

“Martin Bernstein: Paintings” Newport Art Museum Rental Gallery, Newport Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA 1980

“Essence and Art”, Contemporary Media Study Center, Dayton, OH 1980 “Martin Bernstein: Painting”, Art Consortium, Cincinnati, OH 1980 “Painting, Carnegie Art Center” , Covington, KY 1979

“Painted Polaroids”, Kata Gallery, New York, NY 1978 “Invitational Drawing Show”, C.A.G.E., Cincinnati, OH 1978

“Painting, Martin Bernstein Inaugural Exhibition”, C.A.G.E., Cincinnati, OH

M a r t i n L . B e r n s t e i n

S E L E C TED G R O U P E X H I B I T I O N S : 2015

“Enchantment, Nature Re-Imagined”,Beverly Arts Alliance, Chicago, IL 2011

U-M Alumni Show, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL 2011 Centerline 2011,

Zhou B Art Center Gallery, Chicago, IL 2011 Progression, Zhou B Art Center Gallery, Chicago, IL

2011 World Gold Council Best Designer’s 2010, JCK, Las Vegas, NV

2010 World Gold Council Best Designer’s 2010, JCK, Las Vegas, NV 2010

“Interstices: The Inner Space” University of Michigan,Alumni Show, Ann Arbor, MI 2010

“Influences”, Betty Dare Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 UMCGC Art Show, Zolla Lieberman, Chicago, IL 2010

“Centerline 2010” ZhouB Art Center Gallery, Chicago, Il 2009 “Visionaries” 2009 Auction, MAD, Museum of Design, New York, NY 2009

“Center Line 2009” ZhouB Art Center, Chicago, IL 2008

“The Space Between”, University Of Michigan, Alumni Show, Ann Arbor, MI

2002 “Small is Beautiful”, K Gallery, Washington DC 2002

“PaperWork: An exhibition of Paper” Oskar Freidl Gallery, Chicago, IL 1996

“Treasure Boxes”, Artables, Houston TX 1995 “Seductive Surfaces”, Sally Sprout Gallery, Houston, TX 1995

“Group”, State -Thomas Gallery, Dallas, TX

1994 DIFFA Collection, National Tours, Los Angeles, CA 1994 “Born Again Objects”, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX 1993

“In The Raw”, Santa Monica, CA 1992 “Group Paint”, Andrew-Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1988

“Group”,Gallery of Functional Art, Los Angeles, CA 1987

“Group”,Virginia Miller Gallery, Miami, Fl 1986 “California Assemblage, Past and Present”, Forum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, CA 1986

“California Assemblage, Past and Present”, Santa Cruz, Museum of Art, Santa Cruz, CA 1985

“Dimensions”, LACMA, Los Angeles, CA 1985 “The Torso”, Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Los Angeles,CA 1984

“HOT”, Simard – Halm Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1984

“Art and the Familiar Object”, Security Pacific Bank Plaza Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1984

“Functional Art”, Functional Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1984

“County Sculpture; Source and Process”, Guggenheim Gallery, Orange, CA 1984

“Postmodern Mannerisms”, Ettinger Galleries, Laguna Beach, CA 1984

“Drawing a Personal View”, Mills House Gallery, Garden Grove, CA 1984

“Contemporary Uses of the Photographic Medium”, Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, TX 1983

“Painted Polaroids”, Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1983

“Boxed Art”, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA 1983

“29th Annual”, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA 1983

“Forum I”, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA 1982

“Poetic Objects”, WPA Gallery, Washington D.C., Walter Hopps, Curator 1982

“The Human Presence”, Toni Birkhead Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 1981 “Cincinnati Invitational Exhibition 1981”

Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH 1980

“About Faces”, Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmith, OH 1980

“SX-70”, Contemporary Media Center, Dayton, OH 1979

“Strategies Exhibition, Art of the Eighties”, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH 1978

“Invitational Drawing Show”, C.A.G.E., Cincinnati, OH 1975

“1975 Mid-Year Show”, Butler Institute, Youngstown, OH 1975

“1975 Invitational Exhibition”, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH

M a r t i n L . B e r n s t e i n

S E L E C T E D C O L L E C T I O N S :

Michael and Carol Prussian, Chicago, Eleanor Miller and Tom Weinberg, Chicago, Il, Nancy Kienholz, Houston, TX, Steven Tyler, USA, H.M. Queen Rania, Jordon, Marilyn Oshman, Houston, Karen Desenberg, Houston, TX,

Christy and Louis Cushman, Houston, TX, John Howenstine, Houston, TX, Cynthia Patterson, Los Angeles, CA, The Island Hotel, Newport Beach, CA, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Tierney, Newport, CA, Sharon Simpson, Oakland, CA, Jean Simpson, Oakland, CA, The Palms Casino Resort, Sky Villa, Las Vegas, NV,

Peninsula Hotel and Spa, Beverly Hills, CA, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, Bonyce Knowles, Beverly Hills, CA,

Alfred A.Checchi, Los Angeles, CA, International Doubletree Hotels Sheraton Hotels,

HRH Mohammed Bin Naif, NinAbdulaziz AL SA, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Jane Seymour, Beverly Hills, CA,

Atlantis Resort Paradise Island, Bahamas Grand Tiara Hotel, Kyoto, Japan, Belinda Carlyle, Beverly Hills, CA,

World Trade Bank, Los Angeles, CA Soedarjo, Jakarta, Indonesia, Cher, Beverly Hills, CA,

Rikki Klieman and Chief William Bratton, Los Angeles, CA, Walter Hopps, Houston, TX,

Caroline Huber, Pasadena, CA, Barbara Hershey, Beverly Hills, Sheryle Ulyate, Irving, CA,

The Bel Air Hotel, Bel Air, CA, Hyatt Hotels, CA, Cadillac-Fairview, Los Angeles, CA, Edward & Jan Turin, Tenafly, NJ, Tressa Miller, Los Angeles, CA, La Opinion, Los Angeles, CA, Quail Lodge, Carmel, CA, Hong Kong, China Barrett Collection, Dallas, TX, Internal Revenue Service, Cincinnati, OH, Mr. & Mrs. Boyd Jefferies, Laguna Beach, CA, Carol Ballard, Houston, TX, Cincinnati Bell Telephone Co., Cincinnati, OH,

O R G A N I Z A T I O N S :

Cincinnati Artists Group Effort (C.A.G.E.) Founder, Board of Directors, Cincinnati, OH, 1978

L E C T U R E S / T A L K S :

2005/2006 Gallery Talk: A Personal Odysee: Paintings, Jewelry and Mixed Media Installation by Martin Bernstein, Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, OH 1994

Born Again Objects, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX 1983

The Altered Image, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA 1983

Project Series, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA

A W A R D S & P E R F O R M A N C E :

World Gold Council’s WGC Best Designer’s of 2012 Victoria Secrets Fashion Show, “Aquatic Life”, 2011

World Gold Council’s WGC Best Designer’s of 2011

World Gold Council’s WGC Best Designer’s of 2010

R E F E R E N C E S :

http://chicagogenie.com/third-fridays-the-zhou-brothers-way/ Paper City, Houston,

Style and Fashion, December

2014 JCK Magazine, June Issue 2014, The Look, pg.94 JCK Magazine, September Issue, The Golden Rush, pg. 109, 2013

http://www.jckonline.com/blogs/style-360/2013/09/10/get-to-know-martin-bernstein, September 10, 2013

Elle Magazine, http://www.elle.com/accessories/bags-shoes-jewelry/new-fine-jewelry-spring-2013

Christina Aguilera, Headdress, The Voice, Semi-Final Episode, May 2, 2012

ForbesLife Magazine, The Eye, “Babbles, Martin Bernstein” pg.40, July 2010

Conde’ Nast Traveler, Word of Mouth, The Detox Trip, “The Bauble”, pg.30 August 2010

Cosmo Magazine, Cover and interview with Heidi Klum, It’s in the Juice, May 2010, cover, & Pgs. 36,37, 278

Watch and Jewelry Review, Spot light on new designers, Mixed Media, Jeff Prine, January 2010, Pg. 20, 21.

The Chicago Outlook, Third Fridays: Does the gallery crawl pay off for Bridgeport’s art community?,

Rachel Wiseman April 21, 2010

Town and Country Magazine, “Sleek and Chic”‘ March 2007, pg. 190-194

Bradley, Barbara “Comec, Fashion Show” Commercial Appeal, M12, August 27, 2006

US Magazine, Hot Pics! Jane Seymour, pg.32, Issue 595,July 10, 2006

Jane Durell, “Many Works, One Piece Martin Bernstein’s deeply personal show at the Weston Gallery is not for minimalists,” CityBeat Magazine, pg.41, feb 22 -28, 2006

Jud Yalkut, Yvonne van Eijden and Martin Bernstein in Cincinnati, “Visuals: Ethereal Text and Jewelled Realities”, Dayton City Paper,March 1, 2006

Vogue Magazine, “Finding Shangri-la”, Tonni Goodman, Photo by Steven Miesel, May pg.189, 2005

Bradley, Barbara”Razzle Dazzle” Commercial Appeal, Style M8, May 29, 2005

Bradley, Barbara”Fall Fashion” Commercial Appeal, M6, September 25, 2005

Zink Magazine, “Birds of Prey”, Photos: Heidi Niemala, April, 2003

Surface Magazine Photos: Stephen Lee, Issue 38, pgs 172-175 2003

Rolling Stone Magazine, Cover: Photo: Albert Watson, October 31, 2002 Jane Magazine, Photos: Kelly Klein, March 2002, pgs 114,

115 Bess Liebenson, Slip into Something More Artistic, New York Times, CT, Nov 19, pg 26 2000

Wearable Art, Greenwich Magazine, December 2000 The Arts, Greenwich Time, November19, pg 5B 2000,

Art in America Guide 2000, August 2000, pg. 229

Hotel Venus Magazine, Photo set Installation, Issue 2, pgs 18, 19, 20, 21 2001

Alschuler, Al, “Living and Working Here”, Miami Herald, Art & Design, H. D. pg. 7, 1995

Lewis, M. “Born From Neptune’s Garden”, Wire 1995, Miami Beach,

Broadwater, Lisa,”Trash With A Higher Calling” , Dallas Morning News, Section C, pg.1,2,4 May19,1994

McCormick, David,” Artist As Recycler”, Texas Monthly, pg.22 , May 19, 1994,

Tyson, Janet, “Discovering The Potential Of Found Objects”, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Section F, pg.1,4 May 29, 1994

Tharp, Robert,” Everything Old Is New Again Arlington Museum Show”, Fort Worth Star- Telegram, Weekend Guide, May 19,1994

Garrison, Renee, Tampa Tribute, pg.1, March 24,1994

Monson, Carolyn, ”Artist Turns Pieces Of Life Into Treasure Trove Of Jewelry”, Salt Lake Tribune, pg. F12, November 22,1992

Oland, Gloria,” Fashion-Art”, L.A. Weekly, June, pg.36, 1987

Cover, Centerfold, Penthouse Magazine, November,1986

McKenna, Kristine,”The Galleries”, The Los Angeles Times,April 26,1985

McPhee, Sondra, “Departures From Function”, Artweek, pg.5 ,December 1,1984,

Epstein, Benjamin, “Artists Creation To Benefit Museum”,Los Angeles Times, October 15,1984

Bellon, Linda,” A Step Further”, Artweek”, pg.13, September 22,1984,

Moore, Scott,” Just Throwing Paint Around : Portrait of an Artist”,This Week In Laguna, pg. 7,8, March 28,1984

Sarri, Laura,” A Box By Any Other Name Could Be Well,er, Art”, The Orange County Register, pg. D,11, November 17,1983,

Lugo, Mark- Elliot,” A Taste Of Cities Artistry”, Cincinnati Post, pg.10, July 10,1981,

Foreman, B.J.” C.A.G.E. Unlocks Cincinnati Inhibitions”, Cincinnati Post, August 6,1981

Findsen, Owen,” Parallels Abound”, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 27,1980, pg. F7, 2014