Artist Gertrud Fleck under the Nazi regime

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The handling of Epilepsy patients during the Nazi regime

Herb Alpert's Black Totems

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Herb Alpert Exhibition

Herb Alpert, known as a trumpeter, A&M Records co-founder, and one of the most generous stars (according to the BBC, his foundation spent $13 million on education, including the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music), currently has an art exhibit at ACE Gallery in Beverly Hills. There was a reception for the artist on Thursday evening, February 4, 2010, from 7:30 to 9 p.m., where Alpert himself and curator Douglas Chrismas were present, as well as prominent people from the entertainment industry, including actor Michael York (Cabaret and The Three Musketeers). The event was filmed by the BBC and Alpert’s own press team.

The art show contains three small and thirteen large black totems, as well as ten small white terracotta totems. The smaller totems range in height from 8" to 36", while the taller ones range from 12 to 18 feet. They are made out of wet clay, which Alpert shaped with his own hands and then molded into vertical forms. The larger ones he then cast in bronze. These are arranged in a forest-like environment and gain intensity by being presented as a group.

Although Alpert’s work looks rather abstract, one can recognize forms that look familiar. For instance, on one of the totems, there is an eagle-like form seemingly emerging from the top; on others, they appear to have human body parts, such as noses, delicate bones, or the inside of an ear.

Alpert’s work was inspired primarily by the totem poles of the Pacific Northwest, such as those of the Haida, Tlingit, and Kwakiutl tribes. He felt intrigued by the enormous history they contain, sometimes serving as symbols that watch over a family, clan, or tribe; at other times functioning as crests of families or chiefs, honoring major events or occasions; or acting as guides that accompany one through life, both in the physical and spiritual worlds.

However, one can also see the influence of Alberto Giacometti’s elongated figures and Louise Bourgeois’ slender wooden sculptures, which she made during and after a trip to Africa in the late 1940s.