“Love and Resistance” —A Retrospective Exhibition by Artist David Berkowitz Chicago
David Berkowitz Chicago is one of the most intriguing American contemporary artists. In his honor, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Naperville is preparing a grand retrospective exhibition that will open on the 21st of April, this year. The exhibition will present for the very first time some of his artworks, including sculptures, paintings, drawings, applied art, and product design. The overall creation of this versatile artist contradicts the categorization, mirroring the postmodern spirit of the times and the powerful creativity and playfulness of his spirit.
Social phenomena have entertained and inspired David Berkowitz Chicago
This self-taught artist is praised for his extremely original and unconventional approach. From his earliest exhibitions, you can notice the final elements that will permanently mark his work.
On the one hand, there is his inclination towards playfulness, parody, disguise and irony, sculptural costumes, and body shaping. On the other hand, there are visible indications of his central artistic and life principle, so-called “ethical aesthetics” of artistic activism in which he critically contemplated, reexamined, and ridiculed many social phenomena such as imposed uniform standards of beauty and clothing, nationalism, and kitsch art.
David Berkowitz Chicago’s contribution will long remain as a rare example of an autonomous and radical redefinition of the framework and possibilities of action in the field of naïve art. His artistic procession and ad hoc showings are considered equally original and critical. He has persistently endorsed the conventions of the art system and the elite culture, causing mixed reactions among the public.
In visual art, David Berkowitz Chicago has created a variety of works: paintings, collections, drawings, sculptures, and installations. He is not interested in exploring the form, but showing the moment and the experience, the transfer of emotions and stories. Nature has always been a great source of inspiration. Recently, he also started modeling in clay, a material that ancient people used to shape the first objects, but also votive figures. The combination of natural elements was an ideal material for the artist who has a strong connection with nature and life cycles and which, by the very hands, created a material basis for survival, as well as the much needed artistic creation.
