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MONTAUK SUN
ARTIST KEVIN BERLIN: SOUTHAMPTON TOMATOES TO MIAMI BEACH NUDES
Artist Kevin Berlin with "A Party That Never Happened" painting at the Nov. 28 opening of his solo show "45 Years of Nudes"
at the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum during Miami Arts Week. Photo by Stashi Z
By Debbie Tuma
Artist Kevin Berlin has always been drawn to original, sensual, and even outlandish subjects, which make you see things in a new way. Most of his paintings have been huge, and done in black and white, capturing the New York City life of parties, street scenes, and city landmarks he saw from his former SoHo neighborhood. They were exhibited in galleries in NYC and Southampton, where he has also lived for many years.
But his latest series of “Tomato” paintings, which have been on display at the Oscar Molina Gallery in Southampton since summer, and remain there through January 1, are a departure, and a surprise. They evolved out of the COVID pandemic, when Kevin Berlin had moved to Florence, Italy, and found himself suddenly trapped in a lockdown . . .
Kevin Berlin and Oscar Molina of Oscar Molina Gallery in Southampton. "Tomato Pop-up!"
CANDY SHOP VINTAGE
A CHAT WITH ARTIST KEVIN BERLIN
By Deirdre Colligan
I acquired a lithograph from artist Kevin Berlin when I was in my twenties. It was my first serious piece of art, a gigantic, whimsical classic New York City Greek diner coffee cup with its trademark phrase “We’re Happy to Serve You” looming over Manhattan.
Kevin is an old friend and that piece of art has traveled with me ever since, marking many important life milestones. We were together in Paris on 9/11 as he had a show scheduled to open that night, one that as an art student I’d helped him organize. Obviously canceled as the world lay in shock, we would commiserate together as two native New Yorkers trapped abroad during a bewildering and heartbreaking moment. It had been many years since we had last seen one another but a couple of weeks ago I was finally able to catch up with him at his recent lighthearted pop-up, at the Oscar Molina Gallery in Southampton, NY for his “Tomato Pop-Up!" . . .
Kevin Berlin, "Large Cup Of Coffee"
Kevin Berlin and “Little Roo", “Fresh Tomatoes” Mark Miller Gallery, Hamptons Fine Art Fair, 2022.
INTERVIEW
KEVIN BERLIN AT MARK MILLER GALLERY
By Lower East Side Partnership NYC
Interviewer: What’s a Lower East Side gallery doing at The Hamptons Fine Art Fair?
Mark Miller: One of the reasons why I did the Hamptons Show was to try to promote and attract a wider audience to rediscover and investigate the art we have in the Lower East Side (LES). I hope having a presence in a relatively local art fair might bring in new art collectors that help support not only my gallery, but all of the galleries in the Lower East Side.
Interviewer: This was an unusual presentation for an art fair… What was Kevin Berlin’s ‘Fresh Tomatoes!’? Farmstand or art show?
MM: Well, a little bit of both. I was talking to the artist Kevin Berlin about doing something colorful, fun and positive, as we continue to emerge from Covid. And Kevin came up with this idea of Fresh Tomatoes. We thought what better thing to have in a Hampton’s home than a fresh tomato. We presented over 57 original paintings.
Interviewer: Is it true there was a live rooster at the opening?
MM: That was a wonderful experience. All the patrons especially the young kids, they really enjoyed being able to handle a rooster for the first time. It was a real pleasure to interact with more people from the fair, and to see people going home with a big smile on their face. One thing that we learned from the exhibition is that roosters like blueberries. It was all good fun . . .
Kevin Berlin, "7 Buddhas," gouache on handcut paper, 9 x 12 in., 2023.
Painted from life in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
About The Artist
Kevin Berlin is an international artist best known for painting, sculpture, and performance. Berlin shares his time between Southampton, New York and Florence, Italy. Berlin, a Yale University Alumnus, studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Shanghai Daily, The Miami Herald, USA Today, MTV, Tokyo Television, BBC Radio and over 40 television stations. Berlin's works are found in the collections of Buzz Aldrin, Barton G., Kim Basinger, Henry Buhl, President George W. Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, General Motors Corp., National YoungArts Foundation, HRH Princess Antonella de Orleans-Bourbon, Quincy Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Ron Rice, and Pieter & Marieke Sanders. Recent solo exhibitions include New York, Miami, London and The Hague.