Bernie (Reinhard Bernsteiner) was born in Villach, Austria in 1963 and would prove to have more style and quiet charisma than any man deserves. He was a very distinctive figure in a Vienna art scene which does not lack in distinctive figures. Bernie and the artwork he made always stood out.
Bernie's art iconography was simultaneously self-depricating and celebratory. He was a brazen self-chronicler - warts and all - as they say. One of the last works I saw he sardonically lassoed his body parts, including the tumor inside him and took them for a stroll or a dance. It would break my heart to see it hanging in my house except that it was so damn alive!
