Oral Histories

Interview of Edward Kienholz

Installation and assemblage artist.
Subtitle:
Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait, Edward Kienholz
Series:
Los Angeles Art Community - Group Portrait
Topic:
Art
Biographical Note:
Installation and assemblage artist.
Interviewer:
Weschler, Lawrence
Interviewee:
Kienholz, Edward
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the material are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Length:
13 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Series Statement:
This series includes interviews with prominent Los Angeles-based visual artists and other members of the art establishment whose careers span the period from the 1920s through the 1970s. It documents the art community of the pre-World War II period and the rise of Los Angeles as a nationally recognized art center in the postwar period. Funding for this series was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Abstract:
Childhood in Fairfield, Washington; experiences on farm; impact of rural life on ethical development; early art interest and experience; sense of self as artist upon arrival in Los Angeles, 1952; paintings on wood and paper; comparison of Los Angeles and San Francisco art scenes; Felix Landau's gallery; building Now Gallery, 1956; Walter Hopps; opening Ferus Gallery behind Streeter Blair's antique shop; Camille Blair; Coronet Louvre Gallery; Bob Alexander; Action I and Action II shows; Jay DeFeo, Sonia Gechtoff, and other San Francisco artists; construction of Ferus Gallery; Ferus exhibitions; Los Angeles versus New York art scenes; Wallace Berman, Billy Al Bengston, Gil Henderson, Craig Kauffman, and other artists; Pasadena Art Museum exhibition, 1961; Virginia Dwan and Dwan Gallery; European artists of Dwan group in Los Angeles; friendship with Monte and Betty Factor; obsolescence of galleries and museums;The Illegal Operation, The Back Seat Dodge '38, The Beanery, Roxy's, The State Hospital, and other works; show at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1966; censorship attempts during 1966 show; reception of work in Europe; work in Berlin; future of German art; influence on young German artists; comparison of Los Angeles art scenes, 1959 and 1969; decision to leave Los Angeles.