The free-spirited environment surrounding the “Cool School” group, which established itself in Los Angeles from the late 1950s onward, was a melting pot of artistic (material) experiments, shaped by Beat literature. In this vibrant network on the California coast, an inspiring cross-disciplinary dialogue between art and architecture developed.
The exhibition at Marta Herford, a unique architectural sculpture by Frank Gehry, brings together these impulses and opens up connections to iconic works of American postwar art as well as subsequent generations from this context.
Additional content and further information on the exhibited works and artists are available in the accompanying exhibition app: https://app.interkit.marta-herford.de/app/t8vBWctGdzteafL2q/.
A catalog in German and English, edited by Marta Herford, will be published to accompany the exhibition. Spanning 192 pages, the publication brings together essays by Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, Sylvia Lavin, and Ann Kristin Kreisel, as well as two interviews: one with Larry Bell by Marcus Herse and another with Wilhelm Schürmann by Kathleen Rahn. It includes a foreword by the director of Marta Herford, more than 200 illustrations, historical documents, and original quotations by Frank Gehry. The hardcover volume (ISBN 978-3-7533-1042-8) will be published in late July by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König. It will be priced at €37 in the Marta shop during the exhibition and €42 thereafter.
Artists
John Altoon, Carl Andre, John Baldessari, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Wallace Berman, John Chamberlain, Judy Chicago, Meg Cranston / John Baldessari, Ronald Davis, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Robert Irwin, Donald Judd, Craig Kauffman, Corita Kent, Edward Kienholz, Ed Moses, Claes Oldenburg / Coosje van Bruggen, Ken Price, Robert Rauschenberg, Deborah Remington, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, Pae White
Accompanying program
Opening of the exhibitions “Mindset Los Angeles – Frank Gehry and the Cool School” and “Mindset Los Angeles – Works from the Schürmann Collection”
We warmly invite you and your friends to the opening of the exhibitions Mindset Los Angeles – Frank Gehry und die Cool School (Gehry Galleries) and Mindset Los Angeles – Works from the Schürmann Collection (Lippold Gallery, 1st floor).
7.00 p.m. Opening speeches:
Anke Theisen, Mayor of Herford
Ina Brandes MdL, Minister of Culture and Schience of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Introduction: Kathleen Rahn, Director Marta Herford, and Ann Kristin Kreisel, Curator Marta Herford
Closing Words: Megan Meulemans, Gehry Partners LLP, and Maristella Casciato, Getty Research Institute
At Marta Plaza, a food truck will serve hot dogs, fries, and popcorn. The Marta Café (with a summer terrace) offers a delicious selection of food and drinks.
With DJ sets by DJ Tobby at the Marta Café.
We look forward to your visit!
Admission
Admission is free from 6 to 10 PM!
The exhibitions are open to visitors starting at 6 p.m.
Los Angeles, Hollywood, Pool Parties, and “Advanced Drug Research”—An artistic movement sparked by CalArts with ongoing impact—Lecture by Christina Végh
Los Angeles, the metropolis of the U.S. West Coast, was located in the second half of the 20th century far from the art centers of the time (New York, Paris, Cologne). The vast and untamed West, which had little prior artistic influence, fostered freedom of action and thought, leading to groundbreaking artistic expression. A prime example of this is CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), the art college founded by Walt Disney in 1970 near Los Angeles. CalArts developed a radical, pioneering educational model whose interdisciplinary approach drew on European and American institutions such as the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College. In addition to conceptual art, teaching programs by artists such as John Baldessari’s “Post Studio Program” and the “Feminist Art Program” by Miriam Schapiro and Judy Chicago were also groundbreaking. Driven by the spirit of the 1970s, legendary pool parties, and courses such as “Advanced Drug Research,” a unique cultural dynamic emerged: it transformed the West Coast and Los Angeles into a central hub for artistic production and contemporary discourse (a status that continues to this day).
In her lecture, Christina Végh (born in Zurich in 1970), director of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, offers insights into the events of that time. She introduces individual protagonists and eyewitnesses through filmed oral history interviews. In 2019, Végh curated the exhibition *Where Art Can Happen: The Early Years of CalArts in 2019 (at the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover), together with Philip Kaiser (independent curator, Los Angeles), as part of a three-year research project in cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin (Prof. Dr. Annette Jael Lehmann) and metaLAB (at) Harvard, Boston (Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Schnapp, Kim Albrecht), and in collaboration with IMAGE and CONTENT, Zurich (Reto Caduff, documentary filmmaker).
Lecture as part of the exhibition’s accompanying program Mindset Los Angeles – Frank Gehry and the Cool School
Ticket:
Included with admission to the exhibition or 5 euros / reduced rate: 3 euros
Children’s Vernissage “Chaos in Cardboard – Where Walls Learn to Dance”
Short guided tour for families followed by a studio workshop for children ages 6 to 12
With the new exhibition Mindset Los Angeles – Frank Gehry and die Cool School, we’re celebrating the unique architecture of Marta Herford, designed by star architect Frank Gehry. During a brief, family-friendly tour of the exhibition, we’ll explore together how art and architecture interact – focusing on dynamic forms, unusual materials, and shimmering surfaces.
Afterward, children and their accompanying adult will experiment in the studio with materials like cardboard, transforming ordinary boxes into flowing dreamscapes and curving fantasy castles. The young artist’s creations will be displayed in a small exhibition in the studio foyer, where they can be viewed until mid-July.
Age
6 to 12
Admission
Free of charge
Registration
Register by June 19, 2026, at bildung@marta-herford.de
Space is limited.
Curatorial tour of “Mindset Los Angeles” with curator Ann-Kristin Kreisel
During the one-hour guided tour of the current exhibition Mindset Los Angeles led by Marta curator Ann-Kristin Kreisel, visitors will learn about the background of the exhibition, its development, and the works on display. The tour will cover interesting facts about Frank Gehry (1929–2025), the architect of the Marta Herford, as well as the artists of his time in Los Angeles who had a profound influence on his work. Building on this, the tour will also explore works by subsequent generations of artists in L.A.
(Exhibition at the Gehry Galleries and the Lippold Gallery, 1st floor)
Ticket:
3.50 euros plus admission to the exhibition; no registration required; limited number of participants
Guided Tour of the Gehry Architecture
Accompanied by an art educator, you will experience the museum’s unique Gehry architecture. During the one-hour tour, you will receive information about the Marta as a building and have the opportunity to ask questions.
Ticket
3.50 euros plus museum admission
Registration
no registration required, limited number of participants
Guided Tour of the Gehry Architecture
Accompanied by an art educator, you will experience the museum’s unique Gehry architecture. During the one-hour tour, you will receive information about the Marta as a building and have the opportunity to ask questions.
Ticket
3.50 euros plus museum admission
Registration
no registration required, limited number of participants
Thanks
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Marta Herford Corporate Partners and Corporate Premium Partners, as well as the Marta Fund for New Art, for their long-term support of our program.
In partnership with
Gehry Partners
Getty, Los Angeles
Sponsored by
