Recent Pasts

Volume I of the SoCCAS series: The art scene in California since 1990

This is the first volume of a symposium-based series organized by the Southern California Consortium of Art Schools [SoCCAS].

Set out in four sections, with a series introduction by SoCCAS chair John C. Welchman, and a topical introduction by cultural critic Norman Klein, it offers a creative and original overview of the Southern Californian art scene from 1990 to the present.

“Inside” examines new initiatives from within the institutional or commercial sectors of the art world; “Outside” discusses developments situated outside of this more sanctioned sphere, whether in alternative spaces, art/music crossovers, or the public domain; “New Locations” takes on innovative art-related activities in sites, such as the Southern California deserts and San Diego-Tijuana border that are relatively remote from the culturally dominant LA basin; “Endpapers” rounds out the book with short presentations by five artists and critics whose independent thinking and constructively targeted polemic has helped shape art-world discourse in Southern California in recent years.