Wallace Berman

Wallace Berman was an artist who was extensively involved in jazz, rock, and folk music, contemporary poetry and underground publishing, effectively becoming one of the more infl uential members of the ”Beat” generation of artists. His development of the use of the ”verifax” machine – an early version of a photocopier – allowed him to freely compose his callages in relation to both popular culture and the cabalistic aspects of his Jewish heritage. The combination of such materials and experiences in his work coincided with growing interest in new ideas concerning what it meant to explore alternative lifestyles, spiritualities, and ”psychedelic” experiences.