Page 76 - David Bermant Foundation

KrIsTIn JonEs ABouT DWB:I became acquainted with the whole collection of individuals who made up “his circle of artists.” It was David who introduced us to one another. David was the center. He explained to me that he was not only an art collector, but he collected people too. I was fascinated by his sheer energy, absolute honesty, gut reactions, fearlessness, brazen gusto, and passionate sense of adventure. David had definite opinions; he immensely enjoyed lambasting curators and critics and had a definite rhetoric about “his art” about “his artists.” There was no guessing what he might like; he either liked something or he did not. He was instinctual. It was refreshing for me to experience such flagrant honesty and conviction. I enjoyed witnessing how much fun David had, and I learned a great deal from going around with him to see art, watching him react.David was very direct. Amidst our excursions to galleries and conversations with artists, he spoke of his pleasurein wine, food, and sex openly and discussed the many creatures of his desires!David was so, so vibrant, so excited about life, and so open to discovery.David changed my life absolutely! His commitment to PUBLIC, to ART and to ARTISTS was so rigorous. David was a huge inspiration to me both by example and through our enormous differences. There was always a conquest, something new he was trying or exploring: wine, art, even various diets and cures, bracelets, a new psychic . . . There was always a project in the air, a desire to be fulfilled to a greater and greater extent.His sheer JOY and vitality was contagious. He loved telling stories.From the time I first met David in the fall of 1985 until the fall of 1994 (when Andrew and I won the Rome Prize from the American Academy and went to Rome for a year) was a very productive time—VERY. It’s that magic time in one’s life when potential is so ripe—when you are exploding with energy. David’s constant encouragement and sheer excitement was very much part of that time.David purchased the first saleable work that Andrew and I created out of a group exhibition at the annual Invitational Exhibition at Grace Borgenicht Gallery in New York. The work, Apastron, is a celestial-terrestrial work. It is a ‘wonder cabinet’ with two large spheres turning in opposite directions, a stratigraphy of ash and coal on a Prussian blue field, and a very slow tick and tock wand that measures time. Analemma was our very first permanent commission, THANKS TO DAVID!75