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From the Beat Generation to pop art via David Hockney and Dennis Hopper, the largest ever exhibition of contemporary works by Los Angeles artists goes on display in Paris this week.
Once dismissed at best as a city of fantasy based around Hollywood and Disneyland and at worst as a cultural wasteland, "Los Angeles 1955-1985" debunks such myths by showing off three decades of remarkable and diverse talent.
Here underground movements mixed with Californian popular culture and drew inspiration from LA's unique communities while also casting an ironic and at times ascerbic eye on its two dream-makers Hollywood and Disneyland.
"We wanted to show how this city became such an artistic capital," curator Catherine Grenier told AFP of the exhibition which opens on Wednesday at Europe's biggest contemporary art museum, the Pompidou Centre.
She spent three years gathering some 350 works by 85 artists, of which 80 percent have come from the United States, many from private collections.
"In 1955, when the artistic scene moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the anti-conformist legacy of the Beat Generation created a kind of ferment in the town which was still quite provincial, and which did not have any cultural institutions," she said.
"It was the artists themselves who animated the galleries, who attracted other artists, meaning that by the start of the 1960s, Los Angeles had already become a major city in the art world."
For three decades, major art movements were born or encouraged in LA from the pop art of Andy Warhol who had his first exhibition in the city, to Light and Space and the colourful, seductive high-tech look of minimalism.
By the mid-1980s, LA had transformed itself on the international art scene and its schools had won worldwide reputation, drawing students from around the globe, even from rival new York.
"A new stage was beginning, the start of a new story," said Grenier, explaining why the Pompidou exhibition stops at 1985.
Artist George Herms, who was busy adjusting the positioning of his exhibit the 1960 assemblage "The Librarian", said the Pompidou exhibition was long overdue.
"I must be one of the oldest artists present from the LA scene, having lived there from 1955 to 1985 and many of the works on display here are my dear friends, some of whom are dead now."
The choice of works, from painting to sculpture, video and photography, installations and film, was very interesting, he said.
"It is 360 degrees facing in all directions. But at the centre is the relaxed friendship among the creators. There is a lot of diverse creativity, but you also see the camaraderie."
The exhibition opens with a huge painting of the logo of 20th Century Fox by Edward Ruscha and is then organised chronologically featuring the work of some of the major artists which rocked the city including John Baldessari, James Turrell, Hockney, Mike Kelley and Paul Mc Carthy.
It also pays homage to a melting-pot where 200 languages are spoken and which through its politically engagement has given rise to many groups including the feminist movement.
Humour and irony are threaded through the exhibits, such as Eleanor Antin's "100 boots", photographs of black, rubber boots placed in incongruous landscapes.
Many are also uncomfortable, such as Mike Kelley's 1983 installation "Monkey Island" which deals with sexual desire, debasement and excess or Chris Burden's 1971 photographs which track how he was shot in his left arm by a friend.
Or there is the haunting assemblage "The Illegal Operation" by Ed Keinholz showing an empty chair after an abortion complete with hypodermic needle and bloodied cloth.
LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has hailed the Paris exhibition telling journalists it reaffirmed the status of Los Angeles as one of the world's top creative capitals.
But so far there are no plans for the exhibition to be transferred to any other museums, even within the Unites States, so viewers can only see it at the Pompidou Centre.
"Los Angeles 1955-1985" runs until July 17 at the Pompidou Centre, Galerie 1A, level 6. Open every day except Tuesdays from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, late nights Thursday to 11:00 pm. Entry 10 to eight euros (11 to nine dollars). Under 18s free. More information on www.centrepompidou.fr.
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AFPEntertainment-arts-France-US
AFP 072000 GMT 03 06
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