The Huysman Gallery was an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

in Los Angeles, California that operated from December 1960 to summer 1961. It was located at 740 North La Cienega Boulevard, across the street from the noted Ferus Gallery. Curator Henry Hopkins, who founded the gallery, named it after the French decadent novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans.Bradnock, Lucy. "Name Games". In The gallery showcased the works of several young artists who later had great success, including

Joe Goode Joe Goode (born 1937) is an American artist who attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles from 1959–1961. Originally born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Goode made a name for himself in Los Angeles through his cloud imagery and milk bot ...

, Ed Ruscha, and Larry Bell.

''War Babies'' exhibition

The gallery's most famous exhibition, ''War Babies'', ran from May 29, 1961 to June 17, 1961. It showed the work of Goode, Bell,

Ed Bereal Ed Bereal (born 1937) is an American artist best known for his work in assemblage and for his participation in exhibitions and performances that addressed political issues and racial stereotypes from the 1960s onward. In 1961, his work was included ...

, and Ron Miyashiro, all of whom were born in the late 1930s and experienced World War II in their early childhood. According to Hopkins, "the exhibition title was selected by Goode to establish a birth point in time and to indicate a sense of post-war internationalism." ''War Babies'' was one of the earliest

racially integrated Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...

exhibitions and "was a daring challenge to the prevailing norms and mores of postwar America and its underlying racial stereotypes and identity politics." The participating artists played off the work of the nearby Ferus artists. Goode contributed thickly painted images of stars along with a cardboard box nailed to the gallery wall, Miyashiro contributed paintings suggestive of sinister eroticism, Bereal contributed leather pouches that stank of oil, and Bell contributed a "saddle painting". The mix of styles present in the exhibition was indicative of the fluidity of the Los Angeles art scene in the early 1960s. The exhibition's poster, created by Jerry McMillan and Joe Goode, ultimately attracted more attention than the exhibition itself. It depicted the four participating artists seated at a table covered with an American flag as a tablecloth. Each of the artists was posed with a prop playing off an ethnic or religious stereotype: Bell ( Jewish) held a bagel, Bereal ( African American) held a watermelon, Miyashiro (

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

) held

chopsticks Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...

, and Goode ( Catholic) held a

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

. Liberals and conservatives alike criticized the poster; the John Birch Society denounced the gallery for flag desecration. Following the controversy surrounding ''War Babies'', the gallery's backers—a group of three lawyers—withdrew their support for the gallery.Bradnock, Lucy and Rani Singh. "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag". In The gallery closed in summer 1961, soon after the close of the ''War Babies'' exhibition.

Notes

References

{{reflist Art museums and galleries in Los Angeles 1960 establishments in California 1961 disestablishments in California Defunct art museums and galleries in California Art galleries established in 1960 Art galleries disestablished in 1961