Picnic at Hollywood Forever

Picnic at Hollywood Forever transforms a familiar Los Angeles landmark into a lush, fluid dreamscape. A pale blue clearing opens at the center of a dense teal and rose landscape, surrounded by bending palms, flowering forms, and pale rectangular slabs whose inscriptions dissolve into delicate, illegible marks.

Berkowitz draws on the unusual character of Hollywood Forever, a historic cemetery that is also a gathering place for film, music, and picnics. That coexistence gives the painting its particular atmosphere, where remembrance and everyday life occupy the same landscape.

Her fluid handling of paint keeps the scene in constant motion. Palms sag into water, stone slips into vegetation, and recognizable forms emerge only to dissolve again. The landscape feels less observed than remembered, layered with fragments of place, sensation, and experience.

Despite its density, the painting carries an unexpected tenderness. The luminous center creates a sense of openness, while the surrounding abundance turns Hollywood Forever into something psychological and dreamlike, suspended somewhere between a real place and a memory of it.