West by Midwest

Artists

Jerry McMillan

decade

1930s

1936

Jerry McMillan is born in Oklahoma City.

decade

1950s

1950s 1952

Joe Goode and Jerry McMillan are classmates and friends at Taft Junior High School in Oklahoma City.

1953

Friends Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha take art classes at Classen High School in Oklahoma City.

late 1950s 1957

Barney’s Beanery, a popular West Hollywood bar, is an important source of community for Billy Al Bengston, Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha, as well as others who show at the Ferus Gallery.

1958–60 1958

At Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha meet and befriend fellow Okies Patrick Blackwell and Don Moore. They refer to themselves as the “Students Five.”

1958

On a winter trip back from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City, Ed Ruscha convinces Jerry McMillan to come to Los Angeles for school, which then motivates Joe Goode to also head west and pursue his artistic career.

1959

Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha, and Patrick Blackwell in the studio space they shared while in school at Chouinard, c. 1959
Photo: Patrick Blackwell. Courtesy of the Joe Goode Studio
Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha, and Patrick Blackwell in the studio space they shared while in school at Chouinard, c. 1959
Photo: Patrick Blackwell. Courtesy of the Joe Goode Studio

1959–61 1959

Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha work at Al Cassell’s Patio Restaurant.

1959

Group oral history interview conducted by Andrew Perchuck and Rani Singh, featuring Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha, and Mason Williams, Jan 23, 2007. Part of "Modern Art in Los Angeles : Okies go west," Getty Research Institute, 2007.

decade

1960s

1960s 1960

Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha participate in the La Cienega gallery walks on Monday nights. Afterwards, he and his friends hang out at Barney’s Beanery, a favorite watering hole for many young Los Angeles–based artists.

1959–61 1960

Patrick Blackwell, Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, Don Moore, and Ed Ruscha (who refer to themselves as the Students Five) live with Wally Batterson in a house on Madison Avenue in Silver Lake, California; all attend Chouinard. They then move into a little house on New Hampshire Avenue in Hollywood.

1960

The Oklahoma City Art Center organizes the group exhibition Four Oklahoma Artists featuring Patrick Blackwell, Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha.

1961

Jerry McMillan, Untitled, 1961. Collage with photograph (Patty Sleeping, 1959, gelatin silver print), construction paper, and red thread; 10 × 8 in. Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica
Poster for the exhibition War Babies at Huysman Gallery, May 29–June 17, 1961. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2006.M.1). © Joe Goode. Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1960s 1961

After graduation, Joe Goode, Ed Ruscha, and Patty, Jerry McMillan’s future wife, work for Sunset House, a mail-order firm.

1961

Joe Goode organizes War Babies at Huysman Gallery on La Cienega Boulevard with works by Larry Bell, Ed Bereal, and Ron Miyashiro. The exhibition poster features photography by Jerry McMillan.

1964

Jerry McMillan, Mason Williams, Sunrise, Downtown Los Angeles, 1964. Gelatin silver print; 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1964

Jerry McMillan photographs Mason Williams in Los Angeles.

1965

Jerry McMillan, Joe Goode in front of his studio on Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1965. Gelatin silver print; 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1966

Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha checking press proof of his Surrealism cover for Artforum, 1966. Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1968

Jerry McMillan, Joe Goode & Ed Ruscha on horseback, 1968. Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica
Jerry McMillan, Larry Bell for “L.A. 6” Catalogue, Vancouver, Canada, 1968. Gelatin silver print; 10 × 10 in. (25.4 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1969

Jerry McMillan, Spontaneous Happening in Jerry’s Studio. Mason Williams, Thelma Camacho, Ed Ruscha, and Jerry McMillan, 1969. Gelatin silver print; 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1969

Jerry McMillan photographs Mason Williams in Los Angeles.

decade

1970s

1970

Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha Covered with 12 of his Books, 1970. Gelatin silver print; 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica
Jerry McMillan, Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan (self-portrait), and Ed Ruscha with Ed’s 39 Chevy, 1970. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica
Jerry McMillan, Judy Chicago as a Boxer, to announce her name change and show at CalState Fullerton, 1970. Gelatin silver print; 10 × 10 in. (25.4 × 25.4 cm). Pictured, left to right: Jack Glenn, Judy Chicago, and Alona Hamilton-Cooke. Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1970

Jerry McMillan photographs Judy Chicago for her ad in Artforum announcing her name change.

1970

Judy Chicago takes out an ad in Artforum to announce her Fullerton exhibition and her name change. Jerry McMillan takes the photograph, which features Chicago in a boxing ring sporting a sweatshirt with her new name, her friend’s girlfriend standing behind her, and gallerist Jack Glenn crouching in the corner like a boxing manager.

1971

Jerry McMillan, “24 Young L.A. Artists”, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1971. Gelatin silver print; 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

1972

Jerry McMillan, Billy Al Bengston, Ed Ruscha, Ken Price, and Joe Goode at Boxing Match, 1972. Gelatin silver print; 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica

decade

1980s

1989

Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, and Ed Ruscha are featured in a three-person exhibition at the Oklahoma City Art Museum.

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