DubbleBubble

I stopped by the local liquor store after work on Saturday to buy a little something.
A man likes a drink at the end of the day; my day ended at ten thirty pm.
On entering the store I passed a man slumping on the sidewalk with his back pressed up against the wall of the store. In his youth he could have been in the ads for Camel cigarettes. He was now past the point of rugged masculinity and was just rugged.
Worn out. He muttered to himself and talked to people who were not visible.
As I exited the store he asked me and the blond women entering the store for spare change. I ignored his plea and got into my truck and got out a piece of DubbleBubble gum. I walked to him as he held out his hand and place the gum in his upturned palm. I walked back to my truck as he stared at the gum. “Is that it” he said, throwing the gum to the curb. “Is that all there is”? I thought, maybe that is all there is, for you sidewalk man. I drove off thinking about the Peggy Lee song “Is That All There Is” and how that small piece of gum would have made him feel just a little better as the sugar flowed through his blood system and brain.
He reminded me of my cousin Phillip who wants it all for free and then is not happy with what he gets. I drove home listening to jazz while chewing bubble gum.

assemblage

Greetings from the Pump House Studio.
I hope this finds you doing well and that life is treating you kindly.
This summer I was invited to participate in an Assemblage show at Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery in Portland, OR. I have always enjoyed assemblage and collage art work
and have done both in the past. This past spring one of my classes at OCAC was with Bill Will. In his class we did a box assemblage project that really helped sharpen my skills in this area. When I am working on an assemblage art piece I am thinking of a story, a personal event, or of a person and how I can convey that to the viewer.
The things and artists that inspire me are my daily life, the Pacific Northwest, my peers, the Surrealists, Man Ray, Joseph Cornell, and Louise Nevelson, not to mention a host of others. If you are in Portland please stop by Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery and take a look at my efforts and say hi.
Enjoy.
All the best, Jason Berlin

Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery
120 NW 9th Ave, Suite 102
Portland , OR. 97209
1-503-224-3150
http://anniemeyerartwork.com/gallery/
Aug 31- Sept 30th
Opening reception Wednesday Aug 31 5-7 and First Thursday September 1st
I also have box assemblage at
Cannibals Gallery
518 NW 21st Portland, OR 97201
1-503-224-2663

Greetings,
I hope this blog page finds you doing well and that life is going in your favor.
As a man I have the luxury of urinating just about any where I please. No back alley, shrub, darkened corner or wall is safe when a man has the urge to relieve himself.
The earliest toilets and bathrooms date back to Roman times. Emperor Vespasian who started construction on the Colosseum also introduced the first pay to use bathrooms and urinals. Romes largest public toilet was near the Theater of Pompey and sat as many as 100. This was all connected to the main sewer in Rome the Cloaca Maxima. Romans still refer to public toilets as 'vespasiano'. The famous outdoor street urinals of Paris and Amsterdam are called vespasiennes after the Roman emperor Vespasian. These urinals were common in the 1930s with more than 1200 in use. In Paris they have been replaced by Sanisettes that are more hygienic and less odorous. Todays newest urinal is the waterless urinal first invented by Klaus Reichardt. The waterless system saves between 15,000 and 45,000 gallons of water a year. The most influential urinal in the world of modern art is Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” (1917). His readymade signed “R Mutt”
changed the art world forever. I hope you enjoy my paintings of urinals and my rendition of a fountain.
All the best to you,
Jason Berlin

Black

Greetings from the snow covered pump house.
I thought it was time to update this blog since I am snowed in again and have a little bit of free time on my hands. I have been a fan of the American artist Louise Nevelson and her work.
She is well known for her monochromatic assemblages in black, white, and gold.
They are made out of wooden found objects, crates and the discarded things of the every day. "When you put together things that other people have thrown out, you’re really bringing them to life – a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created."
These works are inspired by the work of Nevelson.
I have been working on these assemblages a long time. I am elevating throw away objects and the discarded of the every day, giving them new meaning and elevating them to a higher level than what they were intended to be used for.
“I fell in love with black; it contained all color. It wasn't a negation of color... Black is the most aristocratic color of all... You can be quiet, and it contains the whole thing”. (Louise Nevelson)
I hope you enjoy
Jason Berlin

Chinatown

Greetings from Pump House Studio, “The Mice say Hi!”.
This summer I took a trip to San Francisco and stayed in Chinatown, “the city within a city” which is one of my favorite places. The first Chinese immigrants arrived in American at the docks of San Francisco in 1848. Since then Chinese culture and the specific culture of Chinatown in San Francisco have influenced the Americana West Coast and the rest of the United States.
Chinatown in San Francisco is the largest Chinatown in North America and has the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. I also finally found the bed, (a Chinese wedding bed), I have been dreaming about since the 1987 movie The Last Emperor of China. I offer up my paintings of Chinatown as a homage and of course my bed, every artist needs a great nights sleep.
All the best to you,
Jason Berlin

Fear

Greetings
I hope this finds you the reader and art seeker doing well in the day to day grind of life.
Here are some of my latest paintings celebrating Day of the Dead for Cannibals Gallery and a piece I created for the Fear show at Launchpad gallery in Portland, Oregon. The painting is called Reverend Mother and refers to the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit from the book Dune by Frank Herbert. The book was first published in 1965.
One of my favorite poems is in the beginning of the book Dune. It is called The Litany Against Fear.
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
http://launchpadgallery.org/facing-fear/
http://www.cannibalsgallery.webs.com/
Enjoy,
Jason Berlin.

Art Box

Greetings one and all,
I hope everybody had a great summer and that all your wishes and dreams came true.
At the tail end of summer this year I have been working on self portraits and had the good luck to find a free news box. I have painted it and place it between NW Glisan and NW Hoyt in front of Cannibals Gallery in Portland, Oregon. I am calling it an “Art Box”. In the tradition of Mail Art I am hoping other artists will drop off their postcards, Xerox’s, creative media and art works that they want to share and in turn take artwork someone else has left to share. I believe this has the potential to be fun, surprising and enjoyable for a wide variety of people. If you are in the northwest district in Portland stop by Cannibals Gallery at 518 NW 21st and look for my Art Box, take some art and drop some off. I am in the market for more Newspaper box’s so if you know of some for free drop me a line at ( jasonberlinart@gmail.com )
Wishing you all the best,
Jason Berlin