It may happily wear the mantles of city of dreams and city of angels, but Los Angeles' reputation as a city of art has been a more difficult journey. The hurrahs of Hollywood have sometimes played a leading or supporting role, but it's not the only show in town, and over the last fifty years or so it has embraced pop and conceptual art, and is a beacon for figurative painting. So what do the city's artistic protagonists make of recent developments and how does Trump-time feel?
" Los Angeles has the best art schools in the country. I found myself in a small new MFA program at the Art Centre in Pasadena, and my teachers were brilliant and all actively involved in the community. They were my introduction to LA and, because of them, I never left and I have taught for the last 25 years at the Art Centre. Frankly, I would have thought that LA was much more of an art city when it had a closer-knit community of artists who had zero interest in becoming celebrities. Now we have this huge influx of artists from everywhere, and they come here knowing nothing about the city or the history of its small, dedicated art community."
- Diana Thater
"Artists based in Los Angeles have for more than half a century been changing the conversation of the canon. Historically, Los Angeles artists had to show inEurope to gain a reputation, as New York (the gatekeeper) was not interested in art from the West Coast. In recent years you see a shift in the arts across the board from creative to financial. The market (meaning the one reported and celebrated in the media) is now global in its aesthetics. So how does that affect Los Angeles and its evolution"?
- Brian Butler