Continuously Playing (Broad Stage Mural)

Tony Berlant

Continuously Playing (Broad Stage Mural)

September, 2008

Mural

Tony Berlant, a true Californian artist, produced his mixed media collage from recycled tin scraps that are painted with DuPont automotive paint, plywood and thin sheet metal. He adheres the media on wood with rivets to form two dimensional collages. “Continuously Playing" is made up of eight panels consisting of recycled scrap metal collaged in abstract forms. Most of the forms resembles nature, like trees or the ocean. This collage has its roots in Dadaism in the early years of the twentieth century with artists like Man Ray. Berlant was part of a network of Los Angeles based artists like Ed Ruscha, Bruce Conner and Joe Goode that helped propel the L.A art scene in the 1960’s. Berlant’s work is a mix of pop art and abstraction. He is also an avid collector of Southwest Native American Art. Tony received a BA (1961) and MA (1962) in painting and an MFA (1963) in sculpture from UCLA. He currently lives and works in Santa Monica, CA

Kiko Thomas

We had an excellent opportunity to meet with Tony Berlant in his studio. His spacious studio was located just two blocks from The Broad Stage, which is home to “Continuously Playing.” His studio is filled with pieces he was working on, research materials, and supplies. It was a great opportunity to gain insight into an artist’s process. Being in the presence of his current works before they reached completion gave us a clearer understanding of his elaborate artistic style. Tony was a gracious host, and we left with a better understanding of the mural and the life of a renowned artist.

Julian Musco

Tony Berlant, whose work best exemplifies minimal abstractions, developed his signature style in 1982. The mural-sized fields of energetic labyrinths in "Continuously Playing" features asymmetrical compositions, intersecting curved shaped colors mixed with narrower shapes. Berlant expressed a thorough emphasis on creative process by the rhythmic inconsistencies of color and shape. The emphasis on textured three-dimentionlity in Berlant's work highlights the sense of freedom in the oceanic presence. The rich shades of ultramarine creates an "open window to freedom" effect, and cleanliness in design, best describes the sustainability and urbanization taken place in city of Santa Monica.

Joel Gabai

Using a multitude of vibrant colored tin scraps, sheets of plywood, metal sheers, a hammer, and hundreds of tiny thin nails, Tony Berlant crafted and meticulously detailed, "Continuously Playing," to represent southern California’s beaches as an “internal dreamscape,” using Santa Monica’s beaches as reference. Berlant’s collage is a panoramic representation to abstract, logical to surreal. Its was gifted to The Broad Stage in 2008 by Werner and Mimi Wolfen.

Julia Blanchard, Joel Gabai, Tianxiang Gao, Elson Melendez, Julian Musco, Anissa Quankep, and Kiko Thomas.

We had an excellent opportunity to meet with Tony Berlant in his studio. His spacious studio was located just two blocks from The Broad Stage, which is home to “Continuously Playing.” His studio is filled with pieces he was working on, research materials, and supplies. It was a great opportunity to gain insight into an artist’s process. Being in the presence of his current works before they reached completion gave us a clearer understanding of his elaborate artistic style. Tony was a gracious host, and we left with a better understanding of the mural and the life of a renowned artist.

Tony Berlant’s influences stem from Sam Francis and Richard Diebenkorn. Both of these artists, along with Berlant, are American abstract expressionists. His methodists for cutting metal is reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s paint drip method. Instead of paint, Berlant uses found pieces of scrap tin. In the beginning, Berlant would use scrap tin lithographs that a local digital printing company discarded due to errors. He would then cut the scraps into smaller pieces and prepare them on a wooden canvas. After organizing the layout of the tin, he hammers it onto the canvas with tiny brads. Once complete, Berlant adds a coat of DuPont Automotive Paint for a high gloss finish. Berlant admitted that the process is arduous, but the gratification that it brings far outweighs the former. “A lot of what I like about it is . . . the physical labor and activity,” he says. Now, Berlant has partnered with the same digital printing company and obtains the found metal sheets in bulk to create his large-scale artworks.

Berlant did not have access to the lithographs in bulk while making “Continuously Playing.” Instead, Berlant personally found and painted all the metal that went into making the 108 x 240" (25,920in2) metal work. The mural was donated to Santa Monica College by Werner and Mimi Wolfen. Initially, when asked by a friend to submit the artwork, Berlant created a metal work of the map of Santa Monica. This piece was rejected. The next time around Berlant aimed to keep his taste in mind. His next offering was “Continuously Playing,” a metal work with a scenic view of the Santa Monica coastline. This artwork was accepted. In September 2008, The Broad Stage was revealed to the public along with Tony Berlant's mural, “Continuously Playing.”