Ed Ruscha, Hollywood, 1968. Collection of the Pomona College Museum of Art.
Lights, Camera, Los Angeles: LA Steals the Scene By Wendy Cromwell
A new dawn is lighting up the Los Angeles art world. Once upon a time in Hollywood, New York was the center of culture and commerce (as far as the art market was concerned). Now, Los Angeles has its own healthy art market, focused on showcasing artists and less centered on churning out the big bucks associated with New York. And guess what? Collectors and curators are paying attention! Think of Los Angeles as your talent pool, with artists cast in the starring roles. What's happened in the past 20 years to elicit this sea change? As recently as two decades ago, Los Angeles was basically the boonies to New Yorkers, namely the cultural intelligentsia that powered the art market (art dealers, museum curators, critics, collectors, and auction houses). Old School New York After World War II, the art market shifted from Paris, where it had been based since the 1920s, to New York. Why? New York was just across the pond from Paris and a haven for European artists during the war. This dynamic fostered a vibrant art scene fueled by Wall Street money. In addition, New York offered a tradition of philanthropy and patrons supporting cultural institutions, then nonexistent in Los Angeles. Post-war New York offered a dense art ecosystem, solidifying the art market's long-standing presence there…until now, that is! Obviously, Los Angeles was just waiting for her close-up all along. LA Waits in the Wings While New York was busy being the center of the universe, a Post-War art scene driven by Surrealism was bubbling up in Los Angeles. Surrealism refers to a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example, by the irrational juxtaposition of images. New York had Marcel Duchamp, the radical thinker who emigrated from France, bringing Conceptual art to America; Los 38 slmag.net
Angeles had Man Ray, a Surrealist who relocated to Los Angeles from France because he was drawn to Hollywood. Sur-real for sure! Ed Ruscha, one of the most successful artists from Los Angeles since the 1960s, was deeply influenced by Surrealism, as were a host of other artists like Ed Keinholz, one of Ruscha's peers, as well as David Hammons, who also lived and worked in Los Angeles early in his career. East Coast Ideas vs. West Coast Imagery Not surprisingly, much of Los Angeles' artistic output has been image-based (spoiler alert: imagery is trending big-time in today's art world). The consensus was that Post-war New York was the hub of intellectuals, where the cultural elite gathered to discuss big ideas. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, artists were more chill, inspired by the landscape, the water, sunlight, and movies (and the good vibes). A few key practitioners based in Los Angeles redefined art in the second half of the 20th Century. Still, it took time for everyone else (aka the market) to notice and take them as seriously as their East Coast contemporaries. • David Hockney (b. 1937) moved to Los Angeles from London in 1966. He observed the light dappling the water of his swimming pool and painted portraits of friends and lovers. • Based in Santa Monica, Richard Diebenkorn (1922 - 1993) made abstracted compositions inspired by light, water, and the architecture of his surroundings, all of which influenced his masterful Ocean Park series. • The crew known as the "Light & Space Movement" (think artists like James Turrell, Mary Corse, and Larry Bell) created sculptures and paintings about phenomenological effects: air, fog, and refracting Pacific light. • John Baldessari (1931 - 2020), an influential artist and teacher at CalArts, appropriated photos from movie stills to question the nature of perception. His shadow looms large over the dominance of photographic imagery in contemporary art
