BEN MARKS OUT AS L.A. ART DIRECTOR

The Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art has lost its new director.

In a surprise announcement, the board of directors issued a statement that Ben Marks had resigned, effective last Monday, after only seven months in the post.

Board chairwoman Judy Spence cited “differences with the board” but declined to specify reasons for the resignation. “This is a mutually agreeable resolution,” she said during a telephone interview.

Reached by telephone at his home, Marks said: “There were some serious differences, but I don’t think it would be productive to go into them. I think this decision will be good for the board, because it will give the members a chance to figure out what they want a director to do.”

Marks, a 30-year-old, self-taught arts administrator, came to Los Angeles from Seattle where he directed the Center on Contemporary Art. He succeeded Robert Smith, who had directed LAICA since its inception more than a decade ago.

Smith was often accused of ruling the institute autocratically, so when he announced his intention to resign, the board conducted a public hearing to determine what kind of director the organization wanted.

A six-month search resulted in the hiring of Marks, but he believes that the board still doesn’t know what it expects of a director. He also says that he was naive when he accepted the post: “I didn’t think it through clearly enough to understand what I was getting myself into.

“My resignation was a quick decision I came to, and I think it caught the board by surprise. I sent a letter (of resignation) on Thursday (March 13). It arrived Friday and we talked about it Monday. I am really sorry to leave, but I think this will be a productive time for the board, and I feel good about the positive things that have happened while I was with LAICA,” he said.

Marks, who plans to stay in Los Angeles and look for employment here, cited “increased community involvement” in the 1,300-member institute as a major accomplishment of his tenure. “The recent issue of The Journal (a magazine published by LAICA) came out right on time and it had more advertising than it had had in years. I’m also glad I was able to help with the decision to sell the building and move on,” he added.

The institute’s property, at 2020 S. Robertson Blvd., has been on the market for several months and a buyer has now been found. In the same prepared statement that announced Marks’ resignation, LAICA treasurer and longtime board member Murray Gribin said that the organization’s financial deficit (of about $70,000) may be resolved soon. According to Gribin, the impending sale will fulfill the troubled institute’s financial obligations and give it a firmer base for operations.

Those operations are likely to change with the sale of the building, according to Spence. “We may find a more advantageous location or LAICA may become a museum without walls. One possibility is that we might operate out of an office as a guerrilla group, putting up an exhibition here or there,” she said.

The institute currently has a staff of six, including Exhibitions Coordinator Eric Magnuson, who will remain. The exhibitions committee will continue to develop ideas for programs, according to Spence, and the board will be “very actively considering spaces, policies and directions.”

The exhibitions program will go forward as planned through May or early June, when escrow is expected to close. In the meantime, and until the board determines the institute’s new mode of operation, LAICA “will be director-less,” Spence said.