By Annette Hinkle
There has been a long standing, if friendly, rivalry between East Coast and West Coast sensibilities. Take for example, the New Yorker’s legendary magazine covers featuring an East Coaster’s view of the United States in which, beyond Manhattan, little else exists — until you hit the Pacific Ocean.
People often compare and contrast the differences in lifestyle and environment between New York and Los Angeles. While New York is a well worn city defined by grittiness, narrow waterways and vertical vistas, Los Angeles has traditionally been perceived as the upstart. It’s the place that, until recently, was the wild west and still is in many ways with wide open, sunny boulevards framed by untamed mountains where all things are possible.
This weekend, the Parrish Art Museum offers a West Coast view of the world when it opens “EST–3: Southern California in New York — Los Angeles Art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection.” EST–3 (which stands for Eastern Standard Time minus three, as in hours) is an expansive exhibit featuring 150 works in DeWoody’s collection by Californian artists. A strong supporter of the Parrish and an avid collector of art, DeWoody grew up in New York and has several homes around the country including one in Southampton. But she also has a strong West Coast connection and this show reflects her love for the art of the region.
“As a young person, her mother and stepfather lived on the West Coast so she was exposed to that quite a bit,” explains Alicia Longwell, the Parrish’s chief curator. “She’s an incredible collector. She has very wide ranging tastes and collects any number of things from antique birdhouses to quills to folk art. She’s also a collector that displays her work. She really lives with it which is great.”
The focus of EST-3 is art created in Southern California between the late 1940s and ‘80s. The show, which is curated by David Pagel, the Parrish’s Los-Angeles based adjunct curator, references “Pacific Standard Time” an exhibit of Los Angeles art from around the same time period that was featured in Getty-initiated exhibitions around the state. Among the many works on view in this show are paintings by minimalist John McLaughlin, works by pop painter Ed Ruscha, portraiture by Don Bachardy and David Hockney, and sculpture by Larry Bell, Craig Kaufman and John McCracken.
“You’ll find most of the artists in this show are truly connected to L.A. That’s where they made their career, by and large,” adds Longwell. “What so interesting about it — and the Getty exhibitions — is that they are looking at themselves in a historical light. We’re New Yorkers — you have that famous New Yorker map and not much else beyond it. It’s a very parochial point of view. But there are so many ways of making art that are different than the East Coast.”
While it’s convenient to talk of East Coast versus West Coast art and sensibilities, no one lives in a vacuum, at least not these days, and many of the artists of the era had connections or spent time during their career on both coasts. They also couldn’t help but be influenced by wider art movements like Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art or Minimalism, but, as Pagel explains, the primary motivation that defined the southern Californian art scene during the 40 or so years highlighted in the exhibition was innovation.
“Post World War II there was a burst in population and the development of L.A. as an urban center. It really was when contemporary art started to happen,” says Pagel. “There was a huge explosion of experimentation. It was a great place to be for artists. There was no institutional support or structure and rents were super cheap so artists could work one day a week. They were not worried about selling — they were just making art and showing it to their friends.”
“The L.A. County Museum of Art wasn’t there yet, artists showed in the Museum of Natural History,” adds Pagel. “It was not quite the wild west, but there was no urban art center. It gave them great freedom. They weren’t pleasing collectors and were free to do what they wanted.”
While many of those West Coast artists were well acquainted with the artistic styles of their period, they did embrace the vernacular of the time and era to develop movements of their own — most notably hard-edged painting and the Light and Space movement of the 1960s which often relied on the use of non-traditional or industrial materials and was influenced largely by Bell, McCracken and McLaughlin, all of whom are well represented in this show.
Pagel notes that many Southern California based artists were influenced by the growing, building and expansion that was going on all around them during those post war years. In a sense, their tendency to embrace all aspects of design became instrumental in defining the expression of so many West Coast artists.
“I think there was a love of design and craftsmanship in Los Angeles which wasn’t counted on in New York,” says Pagel. “There were almost utilitarian aspects. They were interested in other kinds of aesthetics — industrial materials, cars, well crafted objects.”
In many ways, DeWoody’s own boldness as a collector reflects the sensibilities of those West Coast artists and Pagel, who is working with her for the first time in this exhibition, is very impressed by her vision when it comes to acquiring work.
“It’s her enthusiasm and her willingness to take risks,” says Pagel. “She’s a collector who does what she wants to do. I think there’s no reason to buy art that other people want you to buy. If you have no vision of things, you’re not doing what you love, and you’re buying art based on what’s on the front of the magazine for the month.”
“I love her fearlessness and independence,” he adds. “She has vision and there’s real discernment to what she does. She has a sharp eye focused on quality and it’s all really strong work. There’s a boldness and decisiveness to it. It grabs you by the eyeballs and shakes you around.”
The opening reception for “EST–3: Southern California in New York Los Angeles Art from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection” is this Saturday, March 3 at 6 p.m. The opening features a screening of the Parrish’s ongoing video series offering a backstage glimpse at the making of an exhibition. After the screening, DeWoody and Pagel will take part in a conversation about the show.
“It’s guaranteed to be lively,” promises Longwell.
A reception with wine and hors d’oeuvres will follow the talk. Reservations are required for the program and may be made by calling 283-2118 ext. 41. Admission is $10 (free for Parrish members).
Top: Frederick Hammersley "Same Difference" 1959
