Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.
Like many of his contemporaries, Peter Alexander experimented with innovative techniques for casting plastic resins, using materials that were newly available on the market in the second half of the 1960s. Cloud Box, one of his earliest works, is a cast polyester cube. By introducing water vapor to the liquid resin during the casting process, Alexander created a white cloud form inside the box. While the cube form and the polished surface align Alexander with his minimalist peers on the East Coast, the work has a figurative element that evokes the particular light and atmospheric conditions of Southern California.
Video: Peter Alexander speaks about his work, May 2010
An exhibition at Billy Al Bengston’s Artist Studio, with works by Ed Ruscha, Peter Alexander, and John McCracken, 1970. Image courtesy of Billy Al Bengston
Explore the Era
Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.
Cloud Box
Cloud Box, 1966, Peter Alexander. Cast polyester resin. 9 5/8 x 9 5/8 x 9 5/8 in. Collection of Janis Horn and Leonard Feldman, Los Angeles. © Peter Alexander. Photo: Brian Forrest
On View at the Getty Center: Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970
Like many of his contemporaries, Peter Alexander experimented with innovative techniques for casting plastic resins, using materials that were newly available on the market in the second half of the 1960s. Cloud Box, one of his earliest works, is a cast polyester cube. By introducing water vapor to the liquid resin during the casting process, Alexander created a white cloud form inside the box. While the cube form and the polished surface align Alexander with his minimalist peers on the East Coast, the work has a figurative element that evokes the particular light and atmospheric conditions of Southern California.
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Works of Art
Untitled (Leaner), 1970, Peter Alexander. Polyester resin. 104 ½ x 5 ½ x 3 in. Collection of the artist. © Peter Alexander
Explore the Archive
Video: Peter Alexander speaks about his work, May 2010
An exhibition at Billy Al Bengston’s Artist Studio, with works by Ed Ruscha, Peter Alexander, and John McCracken, 1970. Image courtesy of Billy Al Bengston
Peter Alexander in 1966. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston