When my ancestors left Germany in the 1860s to seek their fortune in Northern California, they literally struck gold. They opened a mine and incorporated a town. Risk = reward.
Today the Bay Area is home to a different kind of risk-taker: dot-comers. Adventuring is built into Northern California’s DNA, and like miners, these entrepreneurs strike gold when their start-ups go public. Even bitcoin is created by “mining” - need I say more?
Bitcoin didn’t originate in San Francisco, but the outlaw ethos of a currency beyond the reach of authorities connects it to the Wild West. Bay Area art also has anti-establishment origins, which resonate with artists today. Why?
Hint: it’s about the counter culture, stupid!
COUNTER CULTURE ORIGIN STORY (speed round!)
✓ Ken Kesey - based in Palo Alto, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1962
✓ Merry Pranksters - free-loving, free-thinking, acid-tripping, proto-hippies who along with Kesey, road-tripped in a psychedelic bus
✓ Acid Tests* - LCD house parties hosted by the Merry Pranksters in San Francisco starting in 1965
Fun fact: the original Acid Test was invented during the gold rush when acid was poured on nuggets to see if they were real. Miner lore = outlaw culture
✓ Vietnam war protests - a student movement against the Vietnam War that originated at UC Berkeley
✓ Grateful Dead - house band for the Acid Tests who developed a new kind of live performance followed by an adoring fan base, i.e. Deadheads
Birth of a Funky Counter Culture Art Scene
Bay Area artists didn’t conform to any specific style of art
It was a vibe more than a movement, so it was often labeled “funk”
Bay Area artists made figurative work, relating to the body
They prioritized craft over pure painting, contrary to market forces
Hierarchies of art production were ignored, so graphic artists, ceramic artists, weavers, filmmakers, and painters all coexisted
Ready to start collecting art? Check out the Cromwell Art Collectors’ Club 👀
5 KEY BAY AREA ARTISTS (a snackable amount so you stay hungry!)
1️⃣ POLITICAL PROTEST | Peter Saul (b. 1934)
This painting was inspired by a photo that Saul saw in the newspaper of a bombing in Vietnam
The colors and composition reference to psychedelic concert posters 👆
Ignored for years by the establishment, in 2020, Saul had a major retrospective at the New Museum in New York
2️⃣ UNDERGROUND CARTOONS | R. Crumb (b. 1943)
R. Crumb was a self-taught cartoonist who frequently took part in the Acid Tests
Fun fact: Crumb coined the slogan “keep on truckin,’” which became the title of a Grateful Dead song (he also created an album cover for the band)
His hot takes are the precursor to meme culture (the Reddit boards still go wild for R. Crumb)
Based in France since 1991, Crumb joined David Zwirner Gallery in New York in 2006, where his drawings are regularly exhibited and sold
3️⃣ CERAMICS | Robert Arneson (1930-1992)
Arneson was one of the first artists who made sculptures out of ceramic
His larger-than-life portrait heads turned the idea of classical sculpture upside down - literally!
Nicknamed the “father of funk,” he drew newspaper cartoons before becoming an artist
Arneson inspired and taught other ceramic artists such as Viola Frey, Sally Saul (wife of Peter) and Maija Peeples-Bright, all celebrated artists in their own right
4️⃣ FOLK TRADITIONS | Ruth Asawa (1926-2013)
Asawa’s sculptures, which reference the female body as vessel, were made from one continuous piece of crocheted wire
She was inspired by among other sources, Mexican basket-weaving
Until recently, Asawa was marginalized from the mainstream art world as a “folk” artist
In 2009, the Asawa Estate became represented by David Zwirner Gallery in New York
In 2020, the U.S. Postal Service created an Asawa stamp 💌
5️⃣ CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPE | Wayne Thiebaud (b. 1920)
Thiebaud’s early paintings depict consumer objects, notably candies and pies (snackable! 🍰 ), but later painted Northern California landscapes
Often used a knife to “butter” his 60s canvases with paint 🤤
Thiebaud’s early paintings are adopted by the art market as Pop Art, even though he personally was unaligned with that movement
SHOW YOU THE MONEY 💰
This section doesn’t apply to the counter-culture! (jk, we just ran out of room)
COUNTER-CULTURE REDUX: THEN & NOW
If you like Robert Arneson, check out Woody De Othello and Ruby Neri
If you like Peter Saul, check out Chris Johanson
If you like R. Crumb, check out Louise Bonnet
If you like Ruth Asawa, check out Diedrick Brackens and Margo Wolowiec
If you like Wayne Thiebaud, check out Jake Longstreth
Did this snack blow your mind?