Explore the Era

Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.

Terry Allen
Artist

Gonna California

Gonna California, 1969, recorded by Terry Allen. Vinyl record (45rpm). 6 7/8 in. diameter. The Getty Research Institute, Allan Kaprow Papers, 980063.180. © Terry Allen, Green Shoes Publishing, BMI, Administered by BUG Music

Terry Allen was born in 1943 in Wichita, Kansas and raised in Lubbock, Texas. Allen moved to Los Angeles to attend the Chouinard Art Institute, from which he graduated in 1966. A singer-songwriter and conceptual artist, Allen has experimented with a wide range of media including musical and theatrical performances, sculpture, painting, drawing, video, and installations. In addition to collaborating with Allen Ruppersberg for Al’s Café (1969) and Al’s Grand Hotel (1971), Allen also exhibited at the Mizuno Gallery in the early 70s.

Works of Art

  • Gonna California

    Gonna California, 1969, recorded by Terry Allen. Vinyl record (45rpm). 6 7/8 in. diameter. The Getty Research Institute, Allan Kaprow Papers, 980063.180. © Terry Allen, Green Shoes Publishing, BMI, Administered by BUG Music

Explore the Archive

  • Video: L.A. artists and commercial culture

    Video: Discover how L.A. artists of the 1960s and 1970s appropriated commercial culture