In the first interview, Bischoff discusses the UC Berkeley Dept. of Art, 1960s, 1970s; Hans Hofmann influence; thoughts on the Breakfast Group and studio critiques; "Figure with Tree," 1972; thoughts on problems and pitfalls in painting. The second interview was conducted in 1977 by Paul J. Karlstrom of the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

"Elmer Bischoff is one of the small handful of truly fine artists at mid-century and beyond working in Northern California. His art is of national importance. In Susan Landauer he has the author who can bring his life and art to us."—Walter Hopps, Twentieth Century Curator, The Menil Collection "This first substantial monograph on Elmer Bischoff offers a warm appraisal of a deacon of West Coast painters, justly celebrated for his lifelong navigation of the "tightrope" between abstract painting's sensual materiality and the ethical implications of a figurative art. Susan Landauer meets her own high standards of nuanced social history, and Bill Berkson's brief introduction is studded with gems."—Caroline Jones, author of Bay Area Figurative Art "Susan Landauer’s new monograph is a welcome addition to Twentieth Century Bay Area art history. She is a specialist, who explores the life and work, attitudes and ideals of this important artist, his European and American influences, in parallel with those of his famous colleagues, Richard Diebenkorn and David Park. She brings historical understanding and esthetic subtlety to the study as she digs into the artist’s esthetic and educational philosophy, the relation between painting and improvised jazz, temporary blocks and personal crises, as well as his complete reinventions of his drawing and painting. All this is set in the context of the life of art in the Bay Area community (1940-1990) and results in a readable work of value to professionals while remaining accessible to more casual readers."—Gerald Nordland, author of Richard Diebenkorn

"Should be the classic, central, definitive work on the emergence of Bay Area Figurative painting."--Paul Mills, author of The New Figurative Painting of David Park

In this beautifully illustrated biography, compiled from comprehensive and sweeping interviews, Nancy Boas traces Parks resolute search for a new kind of figuration, one that would penetrate abstract expressionisms thickly layered surfaces and infuse them with human presence.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1985. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived

Conversations with Michael McClure features twenty interviews from 1969 to 2015 that chronicle the capacious scope of McClure’s creativity. McClure (1932–2020) is notable not only for his considerable achievements as a poet and prose writer of the Beat Generation, but also for the many collaborative connections he forged over seven decades. From the 1950s to his death, McClure worked with an astonishing range of important figures in the worlds of painting, filmmaking, music, and science. McClure counted among his friends and acquaintances Bruce Conner, Harold Pinter, Amiri Baraka, Richard Brautigan, Wallace Berman, George Herms, Lawrence Jordan, Dennis Hopper, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Sterling Bunnell, Francis Crick, Gary Snyder, Francesco Clemente, and Diane di Prima. During his early years in San Francisco, McClure attended Kenneth Rexroth’s literary evenings and formed significant lifelong friendships. Among those friends were poets Philip Lamantia and Robert Duncan, who became a mentor to McClure. He also learned much from Charles Olson and adopted several features of Olson’s concept of “Projective Verse” in his own work. McClure’s exchange of letters with experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage lasted for four decades. During his illustrious career, McClure published fourteen books of poetry, eight books of plays, and four collections of essays. Conversations with Michael McClure reveals the many contributions of this central personality in the evolution of the American counterculture.

A beautiful exploration of the pivotal years in Diebenkorn's career