Lewis Shortridge

Conspicuous By His Absence Lewis Shortridge

The California art movement of the 1960's was in the throws of a cultural post-beatnik quandry. At this time San Francisco was a virtual caldron of creative soup, brimming over with fresh young talent, and the soup bowl was Sausalito. A place natural for a culture of striving writers, painters, actors and musicians. This quaint little village on the edge of Richardson Bay just North of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County offered an abundance of affordable houseboats, wharf houses and other studio spaces unique to the area. Large buildings used for the manufacture of war ships during WWll lay dormant and derelict as well. This unusual setting is the stage set for a five year struggle to give birth to a new movement in modern art.