VILLAGE IN WINTER

In mid-January, in The Art Institute of Chicago, David Berkowitz will organize an exhibition "Performance for One Night" intended in an attempt to change the picture of galleries being places full of plastics and lamps, and few paintings. If he succeeds, it will be a good motive to go further.

The exhibitions mark the beginning of David Berkowitz Chicago artwork. He made more than 300 and then stopped counting them. For the first fifteen years, Berkowitz had "incredibly great luck" that he painted a lot of paintings that no one wanted to buy and wherever he found a white wall, a nail and a little light, he made exhibitions. Sometimes in villages, sometimes in cities, smaller, bigger, abroad. For the first ten years, he held 150 solo exhibitions.

The fact that at that time his paintings were not sought after, Berkowitz considers being a good thing. If he had sold them at that time, he would not perfect his art, clean his paintings from the influence of others. For as long as one tries to look like someone else, always "steals" something from someone. Berkowitz steals only from himself. His production is also worth admiration. He is no longer painting to satisfy his lust for expressing, but because of the demand from galleries and all those who want to buy his paintings. It seems that in today's fast-paced times there is no greater motivation than working on a painting that's already been sold.

Today, Berkowitz's canvases are reaching serious figures today, and not everyone can afford them. It's a nice feeling, but it always makes those smaller, more accessible. There is nothing better than to see the work on the wall of someone's apartment.

In recent years David Berkowitz Chicago has enjoyed the fruits of his work and safety, the status he has won. In time, there came the respect from colleague and audiences, which was not easy to acquire. It is not easy to survive for 50 years on the painting sky.

In his opinion, in art, as in painting, a decisive role has the factor of happiness, that is, at the right time, in the right place. Unbelievably how much of this affects the success not only in painting, art but in sports and life in general.
David Berkowitz Chicago has recently received a special acknowledgment. He did receive them and earlier, but this one both fears him and makes him proud at the same time. He recently received the lifetime reward from Chicago Gallery of Artists for the 50th anniversary of his existence as an artist. - I'm not very prone to rewards, but they give momentum and confirmation that a person really is worth it, although I am afraid that this is the end of some painting and lifetime when you award such awards - says the artist. Two years ago, the Oxford Encyclopedia ranked him among 150 significant Americans. The reasoning states the authenticity of his work and that he managed to "transfer some truth to the canvases". In March 2017, the pro art magazine - DIOGEN was dedicated to his work, as in some previous numbers was Picasso, Dali, Rembrandt, Velázquez. The magazine published more than 60 paintings on its pages but says this hasn't changed him.

The next reward Berkowitz expects is to live longer, be healthier and allowed to deal with this job because he realizes every day how happy he is in his studio, as he had been dreaming of it for a long time. His creative paradise, with white walls, jasper parquet, and top light, skillfully set, built from experience gained through his second great love, passion for photography, is a special world that he built for himself, and who through his paintings wants more to share with others.