In his travels through the United States, Mexico, Africa, Europe and Asia, Lester Berman carried a diary in which he recorded his impressions of the landscapes, architectural environs, and the people inhabiting them. These were journeys into the mind, no less than into the world, for in much of what his eyes saw, his imagination discovered new interior countries of his own.
This inner vision is molded into his paintings with vital line and rich palpable texture like bas-relief in the essential clay. He has explored the possibilities of paint with originality and élan to create paintings of near-savage movement and others of stark quietude. In many of his paintings, a single color serves to impel, arrest, and sculpt itself into sheer forms through nuances in the color tone or thickness of the paint itself. And, where additional colors appear, they are used with astonishing effect.
A native of New York City, Berman developed a lifelong interest in the arts that includes theatre and filmmaking. He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Exeter University in England (International Fellowship), received his B.A. from Mexico City College and a M.F.A. from New York University.
Berman’s international experience allowed him the opportunity to be involved in, and be part of a unique creative experience by working on more than 30 feature films and documentaries, and over 75 hours of television production. During this time, Berman worked with artist/actor Dennis Hopper and such stars as Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon, while maintaining art studios in Venice, California and New York City.