JOHN OUTTERBRIDGE
“…was director of the Watts Towers Art Center from 1975 to 1992…”
After growing up in the South and studying art in Chicago, John Outterbridge (b. 1933 Greenville, NC) moved to Los Angeles in 1963 and became a seminal figure in the California assemblage movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Like such peers as Noah Purifoy and John Riddle, he was deeply impacted by the Watts rebellion in 1965 and began to incorporate the detritus that littered the streets into his work. Raised in a community steeped in creativity as a part of everyday life and characterized by a strong ethos to save and recycle, Outterbridge has been composing sculpture from found and discarded materials and debris—including rags, rubber, and scrap metal—for more than 50 years. Also a committed educator and social activist, he cofounded the Communicative Arts Academy in Compton, where he was artistic director from 1969 to 1975 and was director of the Watts Towers Art Center from 1975 to 1992.
ART
ART in Los Angeles Willie Robert Middlebrook
Photography
Photo taken of me, Carmen Efferson by Willie Robert Middlebrook. This photo was taken at 3:00 am after a night of clubbing in Los Angeles with Len Wilkerson. Len had just cut my hair off earlier that day for his photo shoot with me. Willie had an idea about his new light meter, he wanted to do some test. We were in his mother’s living room, we had to take care because of the plastic covered sofa set. I was about 23 years old. R.I.P. Willie Robert Middlebrook. Carmen Efferson.