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Neil Bernstein
Medium and Major Concentration of Work: painting, sculpture and architectural structures
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Neil Bernstein's controversial memorial works, paintings, sculpture and architectural monuments, are exhibited and acquired by museums and collectors throughout the world. The works are historically grounded in world events using an eclectic collision of disparate elements which range from the sacred to the profane. "My purpose has always been to provide the public with something more potent and effective than the commonplace - a means of transformation - mythological beasts - for issues like 9/11 and the Holocaust - a representation of the un-representational"
Bernstein has lectured at colleges and appeared on numerous TV programs to discuss 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and U.S. immigration, and, their influence as the engines of his art.
Despite suffering from severe post-traumatic stress and a number of other trauma related physical and neurological disorders, as well as consistent censorship and attack, Neil , has pressed on to supply the public with his controversial and historic works of art.
ARTIST’s STATEMENT: “Induced by the tempests of public need, these works are a mythological vessel and alter-world for the interpretation of historically significant tragedy . Catalytic cyclones, the works mix beasts, carnival implements, vintage automobile and motorcycle parts and other unusual objects with archeological and sacred material such as: The World Trade Center debris, Hurricane Katrina debris, migrant debris, Egyptian pyramid dust, carnage, architectural salvage, cremation ash, light, sound and whatever else I can get my hands on.
I try and construct a portal through which the disenchanted , dissatisfied and disenfranchised can journey, and , encounter a nourishing, somatic and historically relevant psycho-visual experience.
Originally,
I made art in order to stay alive myself in Germany and Pennsylvania, then, after 9/11, I realized that New York needed something at Ground Zero to help the hundreds of thousands of people who were suffering and wandering around in a daze.
I began by gathering several briefcases full of debris from the pit at The World Trade Center. At that time, you couldn't get anywhere near the pit, but, I had a clerks license, and was able to get in. I couldn't function on the trading floor, because the loud noise would trigger my post traumatic stress, so, broke and broken, I went back to making art.
We made the works from the ash and debris, and, they were not for sale. Next, we set up a three thousand square foot gallery with a tunnel, and hired street people to hand out flyers at The World Trade Center site. Thousands of people came into the gallery from all over the world, and, it seemed that because the works contained the actual 9/11 material, that they were having a metaphysical effect entirely different from the normal operations of visual art. It was amazing to watch people transform. Then, the Mandela administration asked us to bring the entire exhibition to The Johannesburg Museum in South Africa. The 9/11 and Katrina works have been around the world.
I have continued to work in this way, which usually means taking a lot of risk. I have been attacked, held at gunpoint, run down, and have repeatedly had my works vandalized and destroyed, but, in the end, I suppose , it has been worth all of the trouble. I am accustomed to stress and danger, and, will continue to do these works for as long as I am able." N.D.B. 2008 |
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