Oral history interview with Peter Alexander
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav file. Duration is 6 hrs., 7 minutes.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Alexander, Peter, 1939-
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
label: Names
content: Alexander, Peter, 1939-
label: Names
content: Castelli, Leo
label: Names
content: Elkon, Robert, 1928-1983
label: Names
content: Neutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970
label: Names
content: Pereira, William L., 1909-1985
topic: label: Topic
content: Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the transcription provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
label: Provenance
content: Funding for this interveiw provided by Pasadena Art Alliance
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Alexander, Peter, 1939-
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Peter Alexander (1939- ) is a sculptor from Los Angeles, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 117 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1995 December 13-1996 May 8
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.alexan95
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Peter Alexander conducted 1995 December 13-1996 May 8, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: This interview begins with an account of Alexander's family and educational background, including his study of architecture with Richard Neutra and further study in Philadelphia, London, and at USC, Los Angeles. He recalls working for architect William Pereira; his first New York exhibition; Robert Elkon and Leo Castelli, Los Angeles artists, the Hollywood connection; and Los Angeles in the 1960s. Alexander discusses the differences between New York and Los Angeles art worlds; his attachment to southern California; his arrogance in resisting the New York system and all it implied. He goes on to describe himself as a pagan, senusualist, and voyeur, qualities that inform his work, as does entertainment and popular culture.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Autobiographical in quality, his work embodies the notion of personality and character in determining his expression. He further discusses lessons learned from the old masters, the idea of artists as manipulators and art as voyeurism. Alexander considers his possible placement as a contemporary symbolist, contrasting his work to other current art which he sees as cynical. Finally, he claimed to see a new context and position for his art as a result of the interview, providing fresh insight into his activity as an artist.