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February 18, 1926 – February 18, 1976

My father Wallace Berman was an artist. Or, I should say, he is an artist; though his body is not here anymore, his art is very much part of this world. He’s considered the father of the California art assemblage movement, but he also was one of the first artists to work with a photocopier, specifically a Verifax, which was a wet-chemical-process copy machine for office workers. Wallace got a hold of one and eventually modified it to make art. It became his brush, canvas, and camera all in one. He’s also known for his art and literature journal Semina, which was handmade, individually numbered and signed, and only given out to friends or people he admired. He was a pioneer of DIY publishing, without a thought of financial profit or concern for the art market. He also never left the medium of sculptures, making works on rock and boulders. He was a charismatic figure in the arts landscape from the 1950s until his early death in 1976. I’ve never believed it was a coincidence that he’s one of the faces on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), or that he appears in the background of Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969), or his appearance in Andy Warhol’s Tarzan and Jane Regained . . . Sort Of (1964). Wallace never gave interviews to the press, nor did he like talking about his art. He did art, and only did art. He was a family man, but that doesn’t adequately express who he was. It’s my hope that this memoir will reveal not only yours truly, but also the presence of Wallace as a father, the Batman to my Robin, as well as the constant misery and disappointment of him not being here. But we do have his art, and he does live in my book.