Chris Gueffroy, the final casualty of the snipers at the Berlin Wall — shot while attempting to escape the East — might have escaped his fate if only he had declared himself modern art and had himself shipped to L.A. From there to here: The Goethe-Institut Los Angeles presents Here and There: Artistic Exchange Between Germany and California in the 1970s. Organized by Berlin art curator Doris Berger, this one-day symposium focuses on the artistic exchange of culture between Californian and German artists in the '70s, one of the few instances of détente that pierced the sullen veil of the Iron Curtain. Speakers include art historian Thomas Crow, film artist Maria Nordman and CalArts President Steven Lavine; a video montage offers interviews with Eleanor Antin, John Baldessari, Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Joe Goode and Ed Ruscha. It all becomes that much more expansive when you realize that there are slabs of the Berlin Wall sitting on the lawn across the street, framing the entire event in a slightly richer perspective.

Tue., Jan. 10, 2:30-7:30 p.m., 2012

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