Where It's Art

Vanities

Beck, one of the key figures in alternative rock, is, as it turns out, the grandson of one of the key figures in the Happenings movement, the late artist Al Hansen, who was a master performer and a sculptor known for refashioning Hershey-bar wrappers and other detritus into iconic goddesses. Hansen was also a profound influence on his two grandsons, Beck and Channing, who is also an artist. "If anything, it's his voice that booms largely in my consciousness, is imprinted in my brain," says Beck. "I remember him turning up intermittently all through my childhood, in his big black boots, all road-worn and windy, with a machete from Africa and a big kiss on the forehead." The legacy hits print this month in Beck & Al Hansen: Playing with Matches (Plug In Editions/Smart Art Press). The brainchild of Canadian curator Wayne Baerwaldt, it contains mixed-media works by both artists, texts by grandDada Hansen, and more. Also, on May 9, an exhibition based on the book, at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, will mark Beck's debut as a visual artist. It will be Where It's At.

JAN BRESLAUER