Published by JRP|Editions. Edited with introduction by Lionel Bovier. Interview by Annette Leddy.
Part of the same milieu as Allen Ruppersberg, Guy de Cointet and Bas Jan Ader (with whom he edited the magazine Landslide in 1969–70), William Leavitt (born 1941) is a decisive figure of the Los Angeles art scene. Through his installations and videos, drawings and paintings, play and sound performances, Leavitt reexamines the production of the Western imaginary as imposed by the "Hollywood factory." Also at play in his exploration of “the theater of the ordinary” is the coexistence of nature and artifice, exemplified by such landmark works as Forest Sound (1970) and California Patio (1972). This publication offers a retrospective overview of Leavitt’s art from the early 1970s to his most recent works and installations. It highlights thematic resonances ranging from science-fiction to the notion of décor, and gives a prominent place to his writings and scripts for plays and videos.
Published by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Text by Erik Bluhm, Ann Goldstein, Bennett Simpson, Annette Leddy.
A pioneer of Conceptual art in Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s, the painter, installation artist and theater director William Leavitt (born 1941) is above all an artist of narrative devices. Since 1969, his works in all the above media have employed abrupt fragments of popular and vernacular culture and depictions of modernist architecture to construct elusive narratives of cityscapes and environments. The culture and atmosphere of Los Angeles has played a significant role in Leavitt's handling of these themes; classic southern Californian motifs of ever-present artifice and almost washed-out brightness recur throughout his work. Surveying the artist's 40-year career, this volume includes sculptural tableaux, paintings, works on paper, photographs and performances from the late 1960s to the present. Leavitt has created a remarkable oeuvre that has influenced generations of artists, and this volume is both long overdue and highly anticipated.
PUBLISHER The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
BOOK FORMAT Paperback, 12.25 x 8.5 in. / 144 pgs / 105 color / 20 bw.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 4/30/2011 Out of print
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: SPRING 2011 p. 80
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9781933751184TRADE List Price: $40.00 CDN $50.00
William Leavitt: Theater Objects