"While he lived in New York in the early 1950s and was in contact with the Abstract Expressionists, he returned to LA and eventually abandoned abstraction and painting in favor of dreamlike, sexually charged drawings. On this path, Altoon rejected the formalist belief that drawing hindered the evolvement of modern art, which was prevalent at the time. He further set himself apart by flouting decorum and working from dreams and imagination."
"Since then, I have learned as much about him as possible, by both looking at his work and talking with people who knew him - particularly the poet Robert Creeley, who collaborated with him on an artist's book and portfolio titled About Women (1966), and the dealer Nicholas Wilder, who first exhibited his work in 1965. I have long wondered why Altoon, a brilliant and beloved maverick in the Los Angeles art scene of the 1950s and '60s,"
John Altoon moved from 1950s New York back to Los Angeles and abandoned abstraction and painting for dreamlike, sexually charged drawings. He rejected the formalist view that drawing hindered modern art and instead drew from dreams and imagination, flouting decorum. His drawing practice from 1963–68 used diverse materials, including airbrush, pastel, ink, and graphite, and emphasized linear, feverish sexual figure work that unsettled some viewers and institutions. Women frequently appear larger than men, looking inward rather than seeking male attention. Collaborations included an artist's book About Women (1966) with poet Robert Creeley. Altoon died in 1969 at age 43.
Read at Hyperallergic
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