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'9 from L.A.': A visual treat for Seattle

Art from a scene that has stayed hot for decades. Brought to you for free.

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Roger Downey Jul 1, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>'9 from L.A.': A visual treat for Seattle </h1>
                <h2><p>Art from a scene that has stayed hot for decades. Brought to you for free.</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/ozmirage-speakeasy-net/">Roger Downey</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <p>Art from a scene that has stayed hot for decades. Brought to you for free.</p><p><strong>Back in 1966,</strong> the Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art put together an exhibition of local artists called "10 from L.A." It shook the New-York-centric world of art to its roots. The other coast had spoken, loud and clear: The work was cool, unselfconscious, and indifferent to opinion as James Dean’s ducktail.</p><p>Seattle art collector <a href="http://kuow.org/post/virginia-wright-legacy-art-philanthropist?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Virginia Wright</a> saw to it that her town got a look at it while it was still hot.</p><p>As it turned out L.A’s art scene never did cool down. Proof in point a new show, "9 from L.A.," opening over the weekend at the Wright Exhibition Space on Dexter. Many of the same artists seen 47 years back — Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengtson, Robert Irwin — are also in the new exhibition, all of them looking cool, unselfconscious and as who-cares as James Franco’s aviator sunglasses.</p><p>Best of all, the show’s free.</p><p><em><strong>If you go:</strong> "9 from L.A." opens Saturday at the Wright Exhibition Space, 407 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle; 206-264-8200. Open Thursdays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 through April 25. Free.</em></p>
          </article>

Art from a scene that has stayed hot for decades. Brought to you for free.

Back in 1966, the Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art put together an exhibition of local artists called "10 from L.A." It shook the New-York-centric world of art to its roots. The other coast had spoken, loud and clear: The work was cool, unselfconscious, and indifferent to opinion as James Dean’s ducktail.

Seattle art collector Virginia Wright saw to it that her town got a look at it while it was still hot.

As it turned out L.A’s art scene never did cool down. Proof in point a new show, "9 from L.A.," opening over the weekend at the Wright Exhibition Space on Dexter. Many of the same artists seen 47 years back — Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengtson, Robert Irwin — are also in the new exhibition, all of them looking cool, unselfconscious and as who-cares as James Franco’s aviator sunglasses.

Best of all, the show’s free.

If you go: "9 from L.A." opens Saturday at the Wright Exhibition Space, 407 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle; 206-264-8200. Open Thursdays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 through April 25. Free.

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By Roger Downey

Roger Downey is a Seattle writer interested in food, the arts, the sciences, and urban manners. He is currently working on a book about the birth of opera in 1630s Venice.

Roger Downey is a Seattle writer interested in food, the arts, the sciences, and urban manners. He is currently working on a book about the birth of opera in 1630s Venice.