Knight: New Director Lands In America’s Most Interesting City For New Art

That’s what Los Angeles has become, claims Christopher Knight: “Los Angeles has emerged as America’s most interesting and exciting production center for new art. Meanwhile, New York has consolidated its position as art’s primary consumption center. What this dichotomy means for art museums is significant. New York’s museums are ruled by patterns of consumption. Because of it, their contemporary art programming is a shambles — mostly safe, conservative, star-driven, geared toward cultural tourists, oriented toward the bottom line. It’s the art equivalent of popular entertainment, with the museum as Hollywood movie studio. By contrast the most consistently vivifying contemporary art programming will be found in LA, which reflects the city’s prominence as a production center.”