"Made in California is divided into five twenty-year sections, each including a narrative essay discussing the history of that era and highlighting topics relevant to its visual culture."--BOOK JACKET.

Exploring the transformation of California into a center for contemporary art through the twentieth century, this book dramatically illustrates the paths California artists took toward a more diverse and inclusive culture.

This book reflects on the motivations of creative practitioners who have moved out of cities from the mid-1960s onwards to establish creative homesteads. The book focuses on desert exile painter Agnes Martin, radical filmmaker and gardener Derek Jarman, and iconoclastic conceptual artist Chris Burden, detailing their connections to the cities they had left behind (New York, London, Los Angeles). Sarah Lowndes also examines how the rise of digital technologies has made it more possible for artists to live and work outside the major art centers, especially given the rising cost of living in London, Berlin, and New York, focusing on three peripheral creative centers: the seaside town of Hastings, England, the midsized metro of Leipzig, Germany, and post-industrial Detroit, USA.

“The Light and Space movement—of great importance to my development as a young artist—is far more than a valid art historical reference. It translates matters of psychology, phenomenology, criticality, emotional investment, and now-ness into an immaterial language that is both subversive and compelling. Light and Space is as contemporary as ever.” —Olafur Eliasson

"The past quarter century has witnessed the emergence of a scholarly appreciation of American art in California. Yet assessments of the early modern (pre-1950) have been haphazard. Now in one bold volume, these scholars have remedied that deficiency. Thanks to the rich essays of this wonderful book, the art history of California--and the nation!--is graced with further light."--Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California "The authors of these essays illuminate a diverse and compelling history, one in which what happened at the geographic edges sheds new light on the European points of original. A lively and valuable contribution, not just to regional history, but to the making and transmission of modernism."--Whitney Chadwick, Professor of Art History, San Francisco State University "A welcome and overdue evaluation of the distinctive history of modernism in California, these essays sensitively explore a cultural terrain at once familiar and strange, surveying memorable achievements from painting to photography to architecture and film. The authors provocatively suggest the centrality of 'edges'--wherever they are found--to the national tale, and demonstrate it through significant developments on our western margin. A must for any serious student of American art and culture."--Charles C. Eldredge, The University of Kansas "An engrossing examination of modernist practices in California before the Abstract Expressionists and beatniks came to town. It includes art scenes peopled by Mexican muralists, European artists in exile, third-generation Californians, idealist photographers, and immigrant artisans."--Wanda Corn, Professor of Art History, Stanford University "These fascinating essays do much more than fill a major gap in our understanding of American regionalism. Their scope is superb because of the inclusive range of their definition of 'art, ' the varied ethnicities of the artists discussed, and the distinctive impact of environment, light, and culture on California art. A dazzling treasure, as pleasing to the eye as it is to the mind."--Michael Kammen, Professor of History, Cornell University