Joe Goode, a pivotal yet elusive figure in the 1960s Los Angeles art scene, passed away on March 22 at his LA home, just shy of his 89th birthday, per artnews.com. The Michael Kohn Gallery and Zander Galerie, representing Goode in LA and Cologne, confirmed his death on March 27, though no cause was disclosed.
Known for his iconic “Milk Bottle” series, Goode’s work defied easy labels, blending Pop art’s everyday objects with a haunting, minimalist twist.
Born in 1937 in Oklahoma City, Goode’s journey to art stardom was unconventional. A self-described “schoolyard scrapper,” he never finished high school but followed childhood friend Ed Ruscha to the Chouinard Art Institute in LA. There, alongside peers like Larry Bell and under mentors like Robert Irwin, he honed a style that danced between Pop and abstraction. His “Milk Bottle” paintings—featuring hand-painted bottles against stark monochromes—earned praise for their fragile, lonely beauty. “It’s nourishing, spillable, all these weird things in one,” Goode once told Ruscha.
Unlike Warhol’s bold commercialism, Goode’s touch was subtler, evoking domesticity without warmth. His later works, like sculptural stairs to nowhere and gunshot-marked abstractions, cemented his offbeat legacy. A 1962 Pasadena show curated by Walter Hopps spotlighted him among LA’s avant-garde, though he remained a cult figure—innovative yet underrecognised.
Goode’s life was as colourful as his art. After a brief marriage to Judy Winans and a stint on a California ranch with second wife Natalie Bieser, he returned to LA, only to lose his studio to a 2000s fire. A 2015 St. Louis survey celebrated his genius, but Goode’s mystique endures. He leaves behind a daughter, Stephanie, and a legacy of quiet rebellion.
- Featured image: Joe Goode with his dog Angie/Paul Laufe
