L.A Art



Lili Lakich’s Vacancy/No Vacancy, 1972, is in the show

"Doin’ It in Public: Feminism

and Art at the Woman’s Building," at Otis College of Art and

 Design, part of "Pacific Standard Time."

 Claremout, California, is not exactly the place that jumps to mind ad the place with cutting edge cents of art production. In the far eastern frindge of Los Angles County, it is well known for its liberal-arts colleges and downtown area. But for a long time beguinning the late 1960's specifically in Ponmona College was at the center of some high art making. It was there that james Turrell unvield his first pieces and Chris Burden propelled lit matches at a naked woman in one of his performances. It was at Pomona College that Micheal Asher remade tje school gallery by RIPPING out the building's front entrance.

“Very broadly, one could state that Pomona, between 1969 and 1973, had the most radical art program, not only in California, but probably in the U.S”  says Rebecca McGrew, senior creator at the Pomona College of Museum of Art. Yet for decades, Pomona has ended up as a footnote in artists’ biographies. Such is the nature of the L.A. landscape: its vastness and impenetrability
 can keep even the most outrageous events veiled in obscurity. But not for much longer.