Review of The Cool School (2008) by Mike M — 04 Aug 2008
Possibly a little specialist - one chapter on the DVD is devoted to ceramics - but generally strong on the process by which modern art went from being considered Communist propaganda to outright obscene to (under the leadership of brillantined Cary Grant wannabe Irving Bern) status symbol and item of worth.
The interviewees make good cases for fallen or forgotten pacesetters (John Altoon, Craig Kauffman), and speak persuasively about the advantages of being an artist in L.A. (the rawness, the space, the light) over being an artist in New York, with its confining tradition of art history.
You may not care for the pieces and canvasses' bright, sheeny, plasticky look - "that California high school kind of thing", as one observer puts it - but the film is cultured, bohemian, very cool fun: the "Dogtown and Z-Boys" of abstract impressionism and all points thereafter.
This review of The Cool School (2008) was written by Mike M on 04 Aug 2008.
The Cool School has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
