The birth of a distinctively American art movement in Los Angeles during the late 1950s and early ‘60s is the subject of Morgan Neville's able if rather conventional PBS-aired documentary The Cool School, which focuses on the Ferus Gallery, a relatively tiny venue founded in 1957 by Walter Hopps, who was joined by the more flamboyant Irving Blum the following year. Ferus quickly became the showcase for cutting-edge work by L.A. artists such as Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kaufman, Larry Bell, Wallace Berman, John Altoon, Ed Moses, Billy Al Bengston, and Robert Irwin, while also displaying the art of out-of-towners such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol (Ferus was the site of Warhol's first Soup Cans show). In the process, the film argues, Ferus was instrumental in fostering the development of a new and often controversial school of artistic expression that veered away from the European models influencing earlier East Coast standards. Narrated by Jeff Bridges, The Cool School interweaves archival footage/stills with contemporary interviews—including recollections by the surviving artists and observations from the likes of architect Frank Gehry (as well as Hollywood players Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell)—to tell the story, although critical commentary is essentially limited to a single New York art reporter named Ivan Karp. DVD extras include a pair of featurettes on Kienholz (one with Hopps' discussing a particular piece), as well as footage of an artist reunion. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
The Cool School
(2007) 85 min. DVD: $29.95. Arts Alliance America (avail. from most distributors). Volume 23, Issue 6
The Cool School
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