Greetings From LA: Artists and Publics 1945-1980 October 27, 2011

Beginning in the 1950s, Southern California saw the emergence of newly diverse audiences for art. While gallerists cultivated collectors, Beat artists Wallace Berman and George Herms distributed handcrafted works among friends. Others, including Chris Burden, exploited the mass media to circulate their work. Art schools became innovative forums for artists such as Judy Chicago and John Baldessari. Social and political movements that championed peace and feminism mobilized artists to take their messages to the streets. Drawn from the Getty Research Institute's archives of Los Angeles art, this exhibition features photographs, ephemera, correspondence, and artwork--many on view for the first time--that reveal how these artists disseminated their works to a broader public.