Art & Commerce: An Unholy Alliance?

Frank Gehry’s much-praised concert hall in Los Angeles is about to become the focal point of a promotional campaign for vodka, and it is hardly the first L.A. structure to have its facade hijacked for commercial purposes. Gehry insists that he’s vaguely flattered by the spirit company’s interest, but the architect’s aquiescence doesn’t really alter the larger question: “When a prominent work becomes a backdrop for blouses or set decoration for soda, does commerce dishonor art or can both come out ahead?”