Pacific Standard Time Fall Art Preview Celebrates L.A., a Great and Shitty Place to be an Artist

Institute for Arts & Media, California State University, Northridge

Roland Charles' Portrait with Veil (1978) from the PST exhibit at California State University Northridge

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Our awesome fall art preview issue, which landed on newsstands this week, delves into Pacific Standard Time, this ridiculously exciting, confusing, mind-bending, and possibly city-changing exhibit on L.A. art from 1945-1980 starting October 1.

I'll let Andrew Berardini explain, from his intro to the issue:

The idea is to document the development of L.A. from a cultural backwater to the international contemporary art capital you're still maybe not convinced we are. Funded with $10 million from the Getty (which recently spent $45 million on a single Turner painting, but who's counting?), Pacific Standard Time will attempt to show the circuitous, messy and often awesome gaggle of artists that makes L.A. significant.

Historically, Los Angeles has been a great and shitty place to be an artist. Far enough away from New York to avoid its self-centered grandstanding, Los Angeles has nurtured all the things and people that didn't quite fit anywhere else. But there were never that many art galleries, and the ones that were here had a tendency to ignore art that wasn't slick and sellable.

Allow me to say it: our coverage kicks ass. In addition to his intro, Berardini has written what I can guarantee is the most entertaining PST timeline out there.

Catherine Wagley has a piece on the eight reasons why L.A. art is the way it is, and a more extensive feature on the superheroes of L.A. art and the five young artists who idolize them.

Ed Schad even drove to Santa Ana (and many other places) along with our photographer Ted Soqui to research what's become of L.A.'s famous art landmarks, and how a studio can become a Starbucks.

The artist and comedy historian David Robbins contributed his take on the five comedians of L.A. art, and what the Three Stooges have in common with conceptual artist Chris Burden.

Oh, and the art legends themselves -- they wrote for us too:

• Burden on the hot dog stand he rented in Venice when he was just starting out

• Judy Chicago on what she learned from male chauvinists

• Billy Al Bengston on how art takes balls

• Ed Moses on how he's actually "not creative."

• Art mega-philanthropist Eli Broad on how he built his collection

• LACMA director Michael Govan on how he learned about L.A. art from a trip to Italy

• Betye Saar on her most controversial work

• Barbara T. Smith on how divorce causes performance art

Our cover designed by Darrick Rainey, featuring Ken Price's Figurine Cup III from 1970, part of the Pacific Asia Museum's upcoming PST exhibit

​All of the stories are at our Pacific Standard Time home page, which will be developed as PST gets under way.

Follow us on Twitter at @LAWeeklyArts.