An interview with Alexis Smith conducted 2014 January 24 and April 14, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art at Smith's studio, in Venice, California.
Ms. Smith discusses growing up in Southern California and her early years living with her parents on the grounds of Metropolitan State Hospital, a mental institution in Norwalk, California; her mother's death when Ms. Smith was 11; the family's time in Whittier and Palm Springs and being raised as an only child by her father; her early interest in French studies and travel to France as a student; her interest in studying art beginning with a John Coplans class at UC Irvine; her time at at UC Irvine in the early days of the university and her growing attraction to the life of an artist; the origin of her name Alexis Smith; and the encouragement of her fellow artists to continue pursuing her cut-up collages from literature, photos, magazines, and Hollywood ephemera. Ms. Smith also describes her time with her artist women's group in the 70s; her husband Scott Grieger; working for Frank Gehry; her showing with the Nicholas Wilder Gallery; her relationship with Chris Burden and her time with him during his period of performance pieces in the 70s; the Riko Mizuno Gallery; her work with terrazzo and its use for installations at the LA Convention Center, Ohio State University, and other installations; the appropriation of text and the assistance of Jerry Solomon utilizing custom frames in her artwork; the impact of women from history, media and literature on her art; her relationship with Coy Howard; the Holly Solomon Gallery; her Jane series; her On the Road series; her installation Snake Path at UC San Diego; her piece for SITE Santa Fe Red Carpet; teaching at UCLA; her installation of the piece Scarlet Letter at Las Vegas Central Library and its subsequent removal; her associations with Margo Leavin Gallery and Honor Fraser gallery; and the loss of her long-time studio space and the challenges of storing her artwork. Ms. Smith also recalls Judy Chicago, Robert Irwin, Vija Celmins, Larry Bell, Barbara Burden, Richard Sedivy, Avilda Moses, Craig Krull, and Allen Ruppersberg among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Alexis Smith (1949- ) is a collage, multimedia, and installation artist in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer from Beverly Hills, California.
General:
Originally recorded as 5 sound files. Duration is 3 hr., 11 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Jean Milant, conducted 2015 July 20, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art at Milant's home in Los Angeles, California.
Jean Milant discusses growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and his French and German heritage; his introduction to art instruction in high school and further studies at the University of Wisconsin; his trips to Europe and New York City as an undergraduate art student; his time as a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, and his work at the Tamarind Institute printmaking program and his introduction to Los Angeles; his work at Tamarind with Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis, Ed Moses, and Ken Price, among others; the beginnings of Cirrus Gallery and Cirrus Editions and his search for backers for the two endeavors; his partnership with Terry Inch as a backer for Cirrus. Mr. Milant also describes the decision to move his gallery and printmaking shop to downtown Los Angeles in 1979; the support of Robert Egelston and the collector Donald Marron and other collectors who first subscribed to his print editions; his experiences in France with Minnie de Beauvau-Craon; the gallery and museum scene in Los Angeles in the early '70s and '80s; his efforts to promote Los Angeles as a vibrant center of art, including trips to Europe in the early '70s to show his artists; the creation of Ed Ruscha's prints using food; working with Bruce Nauman and John Baldessari to create prints; the creation of the Los Angeles Visual Arts group of L.A. art dealers; his involvement with the creation of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art in 1974; his work with the artist Guy de Cointet and Mr. Cointet's early performances at Cirrus Gallery; the opening of MOCA in 1984; his desire to create a think-tank institute to help create a viable future for art. Mr. Milant also recalls Garo Antreasian, Newton Harrison, June Wayne, Frank Gehry, Robert Irwin, Eugene Sturman, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Ken Tyler, Riko Mizuno, Irving Blum, Gerry Rosen, Robert Overby, David Trowbridge as well as Chris Burden, Greg Card, Karen Carson, Craig Kauffman, Marian Goodman, Alain Rivière, Charles Christopher Hill, Steven Leiber, Viva, Michel Auder, and Jonas Wood, among others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jean Robert Milant (1943- ) is an art dealer and publisher in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is an art critic and writer from Beverly Hills, California.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Publishers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
An interview of Chris Burden conducted 2012 September 11-21, by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, for the Archives of American Art, at Burden's home and studio, in Topanga, California.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Chris Burden (1946- ) is a sculptor in Topanga, California. Interviewer Hunter Drohojowska-Philp is writer in Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
For information on how to access this interview contact Reference Services.
The Los Angeles Museum of Art / Roger Wong Gallery records measure 4 linear feet and date from 1966 to 1988. Owned by Roger Wong, the gallery was located in Los Angeles, California and primarily exhibited avant-garde art. Biographical materials, correspondence, artists' files, administration records, financial and legal records, printed materials, and photographs document the gallery's operations.
Scope and Contents:
The Los Angeles Museum of Art / Roger Wong Gallery records measure 4 linear feet and date from 1966 to 1988. Owned by Roger Wong, the gallery was located in Los Angeles, California and primarily exhibited avant-garde art. Biographical materials, correspondence, artists' files, administration records, financial and legal records, printed materials, and photographs document the gallery's operations.
Biographical materials include a few miscellaneous documents such as a passport and estate papers.
Correspondence is with family, gallery owners, art collectors, friends, and artists such as Chris Burden, Pat Patterson, and Gary Wood regarding personal and professional matters.
Administration records consist of mailing lists, membership information, publicity materials, and assorted forms.
Artists' files include resumes, correspondence, photographs, price lists, announcements, and other material. Notable artists are Julie Bozzi, Bill Gale, Joyce Lightbody, Marilyn Neher, Volker Stoecks, Annie-Mie Van Kerkhoven, and others.
Financial and legal records consist of agreements and contracts with artists as well as documents related to the business of running the gallery such as leases, invoices, expenses, receipts, and utility bills.
Printed materials include reviews and clippings about the gallery and some miscellaneous newsletters and articles.
Photographs is a small series with images of Roger Wong, the entrance of the gallery, an unidentified art performance, and other subjects.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1966-1985 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1969-1988 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Administrative Records, 1975-1982 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 4: Artists' Files, 1974-1982 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 5: Financial and Legal Records, 1973-1986 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
Series 6: Printed Materials, 1977-1988 (0.2 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 7: Photographs, 1974-1984 (0.1 linear feet; Box 4)
Biographical / Historical:
The Los Angles Museum of Art / Roger Wong Gallery specialized in avant-garde art and operated from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.
Roger Wong (1945-1994) opened his eponymous gallery at 3808 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, California around 1974. The Roger Wong Gallery often featured local artists and art installations. The gallery name was changed to the Los Angeles Museum of Art around 1978 and closed in 1982-1983.
Provenance:
The Los Angeles Museum of Art / Roger Wong Gallery records were donated in 1994 by John Chase, an art collector who was the recipient of all Roger Wong's art work.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Topic:
Art galleries, Commercial -- Economic aspects Search this
Artists' files including biographical information, slides, reviews; exhibition files; a scrapbook (unbound); slides and photographs of works of art and exhibition installations; works of art; printed material including posters; and financial material regarding the Rosamund Felsen Gallery.
Among the artists are Alicia Beach, Meg Cranston, Richard Jackson, Kaz Oshiro, John Boskovich, Jeff Gambill, Robert Rauschenberg, William Wegman, Ann Thorny Craft, Raymond Pettibon, Jeffrey Vallance, Mitchell Syrop, Mac James, Stephen Bush, Ali Acerol, Marnie Weber, Keith Sklar, Leland Rice, Steve Rogers, Greg Brown, Robert Ackerman, Dan Burkhart, Oliver Andrews, Ron Cooper, Guy Dill, James Hayward, Billy Al Bengston, Erika Rothenberg, Peter Lodato, Keith Sonnier, Tom Knechtel, Paul McCarthy, Jim Shaw, Maria Nordman, Kori Newkirk, Laura Owens, Al Ruppersberg, Ilya Kabakov, Alexis Smith, Roy Dowell, Lari Pittman, Guy de Cointet, Cisco Jiménez, Glenn Kaino, John Miller, Chris Burden, Mike Kelley, Heidi Kidon and others.
Biographical / Historical:
The Rosamund Felsen Gallery (established 1978) is an art gallery in Santa Monica, California that focuses on the art community in Los Angeles, California.
Provenance:
Donated 2014- 2016 by the Rosamund Felsen Gallery via Rosamund Felsen, gallery founder and owner.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Chris Burden : extreme measures / [edited by] Lisa Phillips ; with contributions by Johanna Burton and eight others ; exhibition organized by Lisa Phillips with Massimiliano Gioni and Jenny Moore
Entropie : über das Verschwinden des Werkes = Entropia : il dissolvimento dell'opera = Entropy : on the vanishing work : Bas Jan Ader, Fiona Banner, Marcel Broodthaers, Chris Burden, Sam Easterson, Dora Garcia, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Job Koelewijn, Jonathan Monk, Ilona Ruegg, Joëlle Tuerlinckx / [curator, Moritz Küng ; text, Franz Xaver Baier, Moritz Küng]
