Kristine McKenna wrote for The Los Angeles Times from 1977 through 1998 and was one of the first mainstream journalists chronicling the early L.A. punk rock scene. She was Music Editor for the influential avant-garde arts publication Wet, and the West Coast Editor of NME. Her profiles and criticism have appeared in Artforum, The New York Times, Artnews, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Administration grant in 1976, and a Critics Fellowship from the National Gallery of Art in 1991. McKenna co-curated the 1998 exhibition Forming: The Early Days of L.A. Punk for Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica. She was co-curator of Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle, a traveling group exhibition that opened at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 2005. She is producer and co-writer of The Cool School, a documentary about L.A.’s first avant-garde gallery, and her book The Ferus Gallery: A Place to Begin was published by Steidl in 2009. In 2010 she partnered with Donna Wingate and Lorraine Wild to launch the publishing imprint Foggy Notion Books. In October 2015 it was announced she is co-writing David Lynch’s “quasi memoir” Room to Dream. That book is due out in June 2018. She has participated in Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, doing onstage interviews with Lynch, Frank Gehry, Ed Ruscha, Sheryl Lee, and others. She edited her many conversations with musician Dan Hicks into his posthumous autobiography I Scare Myself, published in 2017. She has also contributed to programs made by the radio artist Joe Frank.
Kristine McKenna on KCRW
More from KCRW
Sundance might leave Utah. Where will the film festival go?
ArtsAfter four decades in Park City, Utah, Sundance may be moving. The film festival has narrowed down six finalists for its next host city, starting in 2027.
Albert Brooks, Rob Reiner on their HBO doc and the state of Hollywood
EntertainmentKim Masters and Matt Belloni examine the dissolution of the Paramount-Skydance merger after Shari Redstone calls it quits on the deal.
Ron Howard, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Bill Pullman on The Treat
ArtsRon Howard explores a legacy in “Jim Henson: Idea Man,” Renée Elise Goldsberry talks “Girls5Eva” and documenting her own life, and Bill Pullman has The Treat.
Where do cinephiles build community as theaters close in Westwood?
ArtsRegency Theatres is closing its iconic Fox and Bruin theaters in Westwood Village. The Fox will undergo renovations, but the fate of the Bruin remains uncertain.
José James: KCRW Live from HQ
ArtsSoul-jazz-hip-hop stalwart José James hits KCRW with his fifth(!) performance, sharing highlights from “1978” — his most soulful, funky, and political album yet.
André Holland, Bill Pullman, and Todd Haynes on The Treat
ArtsAndré Holland talks playing Huey P. Newton, Bill Pullman reflects on “Murdaugh Murders,” and Todd Haynes gives us a “gorgeous character study” for The Treat.
TV not spared from Hollywood production downturn
ArtsLast year’s Hollywood strikes did not result in more reality TV production, as expected. Rather, the green lit unscripted shows are shifting to franchises and sports.
Weekend film reviews: ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die,’ ‘Robot Dreams’
EntertainmentThe latest film releases include Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Robot Dreams, Handling the Undead, and The Watchers.
South Hill Experiment: KCRW Live from HQ
MusicLA jazz-folk project South Hill Experiment perform cuts from new EP “South Hill & Friends” plus faves like “Chameleons” and “DREAMS!”