Out of Sight: The Los Angeles Art Scene of the Sixties

In this enjoyable and well-researched book, arts journalist Hackman presents a rich cultural history of Los Angeles art in the 1950s and ’60s, arguing that L.A. art “tells us more about the sort of country America was at mid-century, and the sort of place it was rapidly becoming, than does the self-conscious and sophisticated art of New York at the time.” Hackman concentrates on curator Walter Hopps—a “Wizard of Oz” character in the early days of the L.A. scene—and the artists who surrounded him, such as Marcel Duchamp, Judy Chicago, John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman, and Ed Kienholz, with whom Hopps founded the Ferus Gallery in 1957. Hackman is most engaging when he dwells on larger issues, such as the city’s geography, right-wing activism, and the conflict between “bohemia, masculinity, and sexuality in 1950s America.” The book—one of several recent titles to explore postwar art in L.A. (such as Michael Fallon’s Creating the Future)—serves as further proof of L.A.’s centrality to the story of American art. Illus. [em]Agent: Laurie Fox, Linda Chester Literary Agency. (Apr.) [/em]