The Lite Show at the Gas House in Venice, California, 1959. Photo by William Claxton. Courtesy Demont Photo Management, LLC.

Ken Price with student work at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1956. Image courtesy of the Ken Price Studio

Lee Mullican in 1959. Image courtesy of Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles. © Estate of Lee Mullican

Felix Landau in his gallery on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. Photo by Frank J. Thomas. Courtesy of the Frank J. Thomas Archives

John McLaughlin in front of one of his paintings, ca. 1975. Photo by Frank J. Thomas. Courtesy of the Frank J. Thomas Archives

Simon Rodia's Towers (Watts Towers) in Los Angeles, 1967. The Getty Research Institute, Julius Shulman Photography Archive, 2004.R.10. Used with permission

Wallace Berman and the LAPD vice squad at Ferus Gallery, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.8. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin

Arthur Richer and Wallace Berman at Syndell Studio in Los Angeles, 1957. Richer’s art is in the background. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.16. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Image courtesy of Lauri Richer. Photo by Charles Brittin

Exhibition announcement for Action²: Works by West Coast Painters, at the NOW Gallery inside the Turnabout Theatre in Los Angeles, September 5–25, 1956. Robert Alexander, designer. Letterpress on paper mounted on cardboard. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.15. Courtesy of the Temple of Man, Inc.

Wallace Berman with a copy of Semina no. 1 in the Stone Brothers Printing display window, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.17. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin

Dean Stockwell and Wallace Berman at Stone Brothers Printing, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.18. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin

Abstract Classicists meet at Lorser Feitelson’s studio in Los Angeles, May 10, 1959

Brochure for a performance at Instant Theatre, "Part of the forest is remaining unseen and the seen no longer is seen," ca. 1957, designed by Robert Alexander. Letterpress. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.25. Courtesy of the Temple of Man, Inc.

Orb, a Chouinard Art Institute student journal, vol. 1, no. 2, 1959. © Ed Ruscha. The Getty Research Institute, 2925-311, v1.no2

Billy Al Bengston’s studio at Clark Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1957. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston