LET’S (heart) L.A.
Wake up, Los Angeles! The arrival of three New York “showcases” dedicated to the same old boring New York artists hardly constitutes a watershed event in the local art community (“New York’s Pacific Rim Shot,” by Irene Lacher, Nov. 27).
Until Los Angeles realizes that it need not grovel at the altar of the New York art gods, it will continue to be nothing but a second-rate version of the East Coast art scene.
What L.A. does need is to become aware of itself and its own flourishing art culture. We have a very vital and alive art community (which is different from a gallery scene), as evidenced by DaDa’s recent annual “Downtown Lives ‘94” show.
What will make L.A. a stronger art city is dealers with the courage and vision to begin to showcase the diversity of Los Angeles art, from the multitudes of Chicano artists who haven’t “made it” to the many black artists working in South-Central, from the still active and vital downtown scene to the many artists on the outskirts such as the Arroyo, the Westside and even (gulp) the Valley.
There is no lack of talent in L.A. waiting to grow--there is only the lack of an art world of vision waiting to discover them.
MICHAEL P. HUGHES
Los Angeles
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