Joe Goode, the Oklahoma City–born artist best known for his “Milk Bottle” series of the 1960s, has passed away at 87. Michael Kohn Gallery and Galerie Thomas Zander, which both represent the artist, confirmed the news this week. The cause of death was not publicly disclosed.
Goode’s practice is associated with the West Coast Light and Space movement of the early 1960s, and Pop Art. The artist moved to L.A. in 1959, where he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts) and was mentored by notable artists such as Emerson Woelffer, Robert Irwin, and Bill Moore.
Goode first garnered significant attention with his “Milk Bottle” series, which he started in 1961. These works feature abstract canvases depicting the faint outline of a milk bottle, often accompanied by an actual milk bottle placed in front of the canvas. The works, which blur the line between painting and sculpture, were prominently featured in the groundbreaking 1962 exhibition “New Painting of Common Objects” at the Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon Museum). The exhibition, which also featured works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Ed Ruscha, is now considered to be one of the first museum shows dedicated to Pop Art in the United States
Other notable series from Goode’s career include “Staircases” (1964), which featured physical staircases leading to nowhere, constructed from wood and cheap carpeting, a comment on the banality of suburban Americana. Another key series of paintings, “Clouds” (1967–1976). delved into the ephemeral nature of the sky, with sub-series like “Photo Clouds,” “Torn Clouds,” and “Vandalized Clouds” offering different interpretations of this motif. These works showcased Goode’s preoccupations with transparency and environmental change that cut across his oeuvre. “If I can’t find a new way of seeing something, then I’m not interested in it,” the artist once said.
Goode’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums worldwide, and in 2015, he was the subject of a retrospective at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. His art is held in the collections of the world’s largest institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
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