Charles Brittin Book

Recognized for his intimate photodocumentation of the L.A. art scene during the seminal period from 1955 to 1965, Charles Brittin captured mythic moments and legendary events in the lives of such luminaries as Walter Hopps, Ed Kienholz, Wallace Berman, and the Ferus Gallery. Often associated with the California Beat Generation in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Brittin's pictures convey that period's poetic, lowbrow camaraderie and collaborative community of artists, writers, and musicians. In the mid-sixties Brittin began focusing on the civil rights and antiwar movements, creating some of the most uniquely personal visions of social revolution. Perhaps the greatest revelation in this survey, however, is the rediscovery of Brittin's personal artwork: extremely private, somewhat surreal meditations on violence, decay, and sex manifested in the form of quiet still lifes of oddly unsettling juxtapositions. This definitive monograph, organized by renowned curator Wal! ter Hopps, also serves as the catalogue to his first retrospective exhibition at Craig Krull Gallery. Essays by Walter Hopps and Merril Greene.Read More