A compact introduction to the LA conceptualist’s deadpan explorations of the American popular imaginary

Part of the same milieu as Allen Ruppersberg, Guy de Cointet and Bas Jan Ader (with whom he edited the magazine Landslide in 1969-70), William Leavitt (born 1941) is a decisive figure of the Los Angeles art scene. Through his installations and videos, drawings and paintings, play and sound performances, Leavitt reexamines the production of the Western imaginary as imposed by the Hollywood factory. Also at play in his exploration of the theater of the ordinary is the coexistence of nature and artifice, exemplified by such landmark works as Forest Sound (1970) and California Patio (1972). This publication offers a retrospective overview of Leavitt’s art from the early 1970s to his most recent works and installations. It highlights thematic resonances ranging from science-fiction to the notion of decor, and gives a prominent place to his writings and scripts for plays and videos.