Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle

Publisher Marketing: This reprint of the now classic and much sought-after 2005 volume celebrates the circle of the quintessential visual artist of the Beat era, Wallace Berman (1926-76), who remains one of the best-kept secrets of the postwar era. A crucial figure in California's underground culture, Berman was a catalyst who traversed many different worlds, transferring ideas and dreams from one circle to the next. His larger community is the subject of "Semina Culture," which includes previously unseen works by 52 artists. Anchoring this publication is "Semina," a loose-leaf art and poetry journal that Berman published in nine issues between 1955 and 1964. Although printed in extremely short runs and distributed to only a handful of friends and sympathizers, "Semina" is a brilliant and beautifully made compendium of the most interesting artists and poets of its time, and is today a very rare collector's item. Showcasing the individuals that defined a still-potent strand of postwar counterculture, "Semina Culture" outlines the energies and values of this fascinating circle. Also reproduced here are works by those who appear in Berman's own photographs, approximately 100 of which were recently developed from vintage negatives, and which are seen here for the first time. These artists, actors, poets, curators, musicians and filmmakers include Robert Alexander, John Altoon, Toni Basil, Wallace Berman, Ray Bremser, Bonnie Bremser, Charles Britten, Joan Brown, Cameron, Bruce Conner, Jean Conner, Jay DeFeo, Diane DiPrima, Kirby Doyle, Bobby Driscoll, Robert Duncan, Joe Dunn, Llyn Foulkes, Ralph Gibson, Allen Ginsberg, George Herms, Jack Hirschman, Walter Hopps, Dennis Hopper, Billy Jahrmarkt, Jess, Lawrence Jordan, Patricia Jordan, Bob Kaufman, Philip Lamantia, William Margolis, Michael McClure, David Meltzer, Taylor Mead, Henry Miller, Stuart Perkoff, Jack Smith, Dean Stockwell, Ben Talbert, Russ Tamblyn, Aya (Tarlow), Alexander Trocchi, Edmund Teske, Zack Walsh, Lew Welch and John Wieners. Contributor Bio:  Duncan, Michael Dr. Michael Duncan is an Associate Surgeon at the Texas Heart Institute (THI, ) Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and the Director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Program at THI. Contributor Bio:  McKenna, Kristine Kristine McKenna is a writer, critic and curator, best known for her interviews with artists, writers, thinkers, filmmakers and musicians. McKenna co-curated the 1998 exhibition Forming: the Early Days of L. A. Punk, for Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica. She was co-curator of Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & his Circle, a traveling group exhibition that opened at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 2005. She is producer and co-writer of The Cool School (film), a documentary about L. A.'s first avant-garde gallery, and her book, The Ferus Gallery: A Place to Begin, was published by Steidl in 2009. Contributor Bio:  Fredman, Stephen Stephen Fredman is a professor of English literature and American studies at the University of Notre Dame. His most recent book is ContextualPractice: AssemblageandtheEroticinPostwarPoetryandArt.