Public Program
Alias: Art and Identity in Cold War Hollywood
Monica Steinberg
A pseudonym is a prank full of inherent obstacles and latent possibilities; it is a medium for secrecy, protest, scandal, humor, and mystery. Art historian Monica Steinberg considers how Los Angeles-based artists explored the potential of working pseudonymously in an era when avant-garde art was linked with subversive politics, and the House Un-American Activities Committee was coercing film industry professionals to identify communist infiltrators.