Tony Berlant: Houses
Inspired by the recent discovery of a cache of sculptures in the Tony Berlant studio, L.A. Louver is delighted to make this surprise presentation “Houses.” Dating from the early 1960s to the late 2010s, most of these sculptures are seen here for the first time.
Tony Berlant
Adam and Eve, 1966
found metal collage with brads over plywood, polyester resin, enamel, ceramic and plaster objects and shell
14 3/4 x 14 x 10 in. (37.5 x 35.6 x 25.4 cm)
$45,000
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The house form emerged early in Berlant’s oeuvre (see Untitled, c. 1963-64) utilizing materials that would become his signature medium: printed tin (in this instance featuring brightly colored red apples) cut into shapes and affixed to a plywood base using steel brads. The artist’s hand is key, not only in the application of hundreds of tiny nails, but also in his thought-provoking juxtapositions of images on the cut tin fragments. Notably, the sculpture’s base becomes a part of the entire experience when the house form is presented in “up ended” orientation.
Berlant’s houses relate to his renowned temple works, The Marriage of New York and Athens (1966-68), which were first shown at the Whitney in 1973; later at the studio of Frank Gehry, Los Angeles (2004), and which now reside in the permanent collection of the Chatêau La Coste, France. Similarly, in our presentation several sculptures offer interior tableaux (Adam and Eve, 1966, Untitled, 1966-67, Prisoner of Love, 1967 and Down East, 1986). By contrast, most of Berlant’s houses have no such opening: existing as resolute three-dimensional objects enrobed with images.
In the contemporary western world, the house has overtaken the temple as a fundamental architectural form and is universally recognizable from children’s drawings and computer icons alike. Yet, each of our relationships to the house and home is deeply personal and, like each of Berlant’s sculptures, exists in its own world of referents and images.
Tony Berlant
Prisoner of Love, 1967
found metal collage with brads over plywood, polyester resin, enamel, plastic fragment and shell
14 1/2 x 10 x 14 in. (36.8 x 25.4 x 35.6 cm)
$45,000
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Tony Berlant
Untitled, circa 1987
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
7 x 5 1/2 x 6 1/4 in. (17.8 x 14 x 15.9 cm)
$7500
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Tony Berlant
Free Flight, 1988
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
8 1/2 x 6 x 7 1/4 in. (21.6 x 15.2 x 18.4 cm)
$10,000
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Tony Berlant
Pure Faith, 1993
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
8 x 7 x 8 1/2 in. (20.3 x 17.8 x 21.6 cm)
$10,000
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Tony Berlant
Helen's Choice, 1997
ound and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
6 x 4 1/2 x 6 in. (15.2 x 11.4 x 15.2 cm)
$7500
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Tony Berlant
Untitled, circa 1999
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
7 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (19.1 x 14 x 13.3 cm)
$7500
Inquire
Tony Berlant
Every So Often (House), 2011
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
10 1/2 x 7 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (26.7 x 19.7 x 26 cm)
$15,000
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Tony Berlant
Voice, 2015
metal collage on plywood with steel brads
10 x 14 x 15 in. (25.4 x 35.6 x 38.1 cm)
$24,000
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Tony Berlant
The Heart of the Forest, 2016
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
10 1/4 x 8 x 4 in. (26 x 20.3 x 10.2 cm)
$15,000
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Tony Berlant
Lexicon, 2017
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
15 x 10 x 14 in. (38.1 x 25.4 x 35.6 cm)
$24,000
Inquire
Tony Berlant
Homerun, 2018
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
10 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 8 in. (26.7 x 26.7 x 20.3 cm)
$15,000
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Tony Berlant
Check It Out, 2019
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
5 1/2 x 4 x 5 1/2 in. (14 x 10.2 x 14 cm)
$6500
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Tony Berlant
Rag Tag, 2019
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
6 3/4 x 5 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. (17.1 x 13.3 x 15.9 cm)
$7500
Inquire
Tony Berlant
All In, 2019
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
8 1/8" x 6 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (20.6 x 17.1 x 21 cm)
$10,000
Inquire
Tony Berlant
Down East, 1986
found and fabricated printed tin collaged on plywood with steel brads
34 x 24 1/2 x 34 1/4 in. (86.4 x 62.2 x 87 cm)
$75,000
Inquire
Installation photography of Tony Berlant: Houses
Tony Berlant’s houses are available to view by appointment at L.A. Louver, 45 North Venice Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291. Tel: 310-822-4955 and sales@lalouver.com.
About Tony Berlant
Tony Berlant was born in New York in 1941 and moved to Los Angeles when he was a young child. Berlant remained in Los Angeles to study at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his MA and MFA. During his time at UCLA and thereafter, Berlant quickly became enmeshed in the community of artists in Los Angeles, including Frank Gehry, Ed Moses, Chris Burden, Richard Diebenkorn, Ken Price, Gwynn Murrill, and many others.
Berlant received early recognition in 1960, when Clement Greenberg selected one of his paintings for inclusion in an exhibition of L.A. area artists at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 1964, the same museum awarded Berlant the New Talent Purchase Grant, and he has since exhibited widely throughout the United States.
In addition to his artistic practice, Berlant is also an avid and knowledgeable collector, dealer and advisor, especially of Mimbres pottery, Navajo blankets, and ancient handaxes. Several influential exhibitions and books have grown from Berlant’s collection, including First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone at the Nasher Sculpture Center (Dallas, TX) and Decoding Mimbres Painting: Ancient Ceramics of the American Southwest at LACMA.
Tony Berlant’s work is represented in many private and public collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; San Francisco Airport, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Mayo Clinic, Target Corporation, Minneapolis, and the Broad Theater, Santa Monica.