Ferus Gallery- The Cool School

The Flim

"I remember the word 'Ferus' outside had this kind of magic to it. Ferus had a much sparer approach to showing art. If you want to put a tiny painting on a single big wall, you're welcome to it. And the artist is the boss."

—Ed Ruscha, Ferus Gallery artist

How do you build an art scene from scratch—and not lose your soul in the process? THE COOL SCHOOL is the story of the Ferus Gallery, which nurtured Los Angeles’s first significant post-war artists between 1957 and 1966.
In late 1956, medical-school dropout Walter Hopps met artist Ed Kienholz for lunch at a hot dog stand on La Cienega Boulevard. The two drafted a contract on a hot dog wrapper that stated simply, “We will be partners in art for five years.” And with that, the Ferus Gallery was born.
Operating out of a small storefront, the gallery hosted debut exhibitions and served as a general launching point for Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses and Robert Irwin, among many other artists. By the time it closed in 1966, the gallery had also played a role in solidifying the careers of many of New York’s brightest talents, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
First under the leadership of genius autodidact Walter Hopps, then the smooth-as-silk Irving Blum, Ferus groomed the Los Angeles art world from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into a coterie of competitive, often brilliant artists. What was lost and what was gained was tied up in a complicated web of egos, passions, money, interpersonal relationships and artistic statements.
The gallery’s eventual success came at a cost. The closing of Ferus, just as it was finally becoming financially solvent, is indicative of the volatile and complex relationship money invariably has with art. But while Ferus had a polarizing effect on artists, ideas and art, the gallery managed to do for art in Los Angeles what the museums previously could not. Even though their modalities were as disparate as assemblage art, abstract expressionism and Pop, Ferus artists shared ideas, goals, workspaces and a lasting vision.

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Hitchhike

Definition of HITCHHIKE

 

intransitive verb

1

: to travel by securing free rides from passing vehicles

2

: to be carried or transported by chance or unintentionally <destructive insects hitchhiking on ships>

transitive verb

: to solicit and obtain (a free ride) especially in a passing vehicle

— hitch·hik·er noun

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City Geography

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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 621.2 square miles (1,608.8 km²), of which, 607.0 square miles (1,572.1 km²) of it is land and 14.2 square miles (36.7 km²) of it is water. The total area is 2.28% water. Oklahoma City is located in the Frontier Country region of Central Oklahoma, in the Southern Plains of North America; it is on the tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie section of the Great Plains.
Most of the area consists of gently rolling hills, covered in places by stands of dense, low trees, along with shrubs and many varieties of prairie grasses and wildflowers. Those woodlands, mostly to the north and east of the metropolitan area, are known as the Cross Timbers. They consist of blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica), post oak (Q. stellata), hickory (Carya spp.), and other plant species which become more widespread in the southeastern forests, about 100 miles (160 km) east of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
The city is roughly bisected by the North Canadian River (recently renamed the Oklahoma River inside city limits). The North Canadian was once substantial enough to flood every year, wreaking destruction on surrounding areas, including the original Oklahoma City Zoo. In the 1940s the Civilian Conservation Corps built a dam on the river, which reduced its flow for the next 50 years.  In the 1990s, as part of the citywide revitalization project known as MAPS, the city built a series of low-water dams, returning water to the portion of the river flowing near downtown.  The city also has three large lakes: Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser, in the northwestern quarter of the city; and the largest, Lake Stanley Draper, in the sparsely populated far southeast of the city.
The population density normally reported for the city using area of its city limits can be a bit misleading, as its urbanized zone covers roughly 244 sq mi (630 km2), compared with the rural areas incorporated by the city, which cover the remaining 377 sq mi (980 km2) of the city limits.
Oklahoma City is the second largest city in the nation in compliance with the Clean Air Act (after Jacksonville, Florida).

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Chouinard Art Institute

CalArts is internationally renowned as one of the leading centers for undergraduate and graduate study in the performing and visual arts and in the critical study of these arts.
It was the nation's first art institute to offer BFAs and MFAs in both the visual and performing arts, and today the Institute remains dedicated to training and nurturing the next generation of professional artists, fostering brilliance and innovation within the broadest context possible. Admission to CalArts is competitive and considered mainly on the basis of demonstrated talent, creativity and commitment. Other important considerations include educational records, recommendations, and artist's statement.
To encourage innovation and experimentation, CalArts' six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater—are all housed under one roof in a unique, five-story building with the equivalent of 11 acres of square footage in Valencia, California, just 30 minutes north of downtown Los Angeles.

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Pop Art

What is Pop-Art? - Characteristics
The term Pop-Art was invented by British curator Lawrence Alloway in 1955, to describe a new form of "Popular" art - a movement characterized by the imagery of consumerism and popular culture. Pop-Art emerged in both New York and London during the mid-1950s and became the dominant avant-garde style until the late 1960s. Characterized by bold, simple, everyday imagery, and vibrant block colours, it was interesting to look at and had a modern "hip" feel. The bright colour schemes also enabled this form of avant-garde art to emphasise certain elements in contemporary culture, and helped to narrow the divide between the commercial arts and the fine arts. It was the first Post-Modernist movement (where medium is as important as the message) as well as the first school of art to reflect the power of film and television, from which many of its most famous images acquired their celebrity. Common sources of Pop iconography were advertisements, consumer product packaging, photos of film-stars, pop-stars and other celebrities, and comic strips.


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