Sixth ART / LA Is Battling a Sagging Economy

ART/LA91, Los Angeles’ sixth annual contemporary art fair will not be defeated by the sagging economy and a recent controversy over a connection with arms sales by a subsidiary company, according to fair director Brian Angel.

Planning has been an uphill battle, but organizational changes are expected to alleviate some past problems, he said. A Galleries Committee of leading dealers has been established to screen applicants and control quality, for example.

Instead of staging a lavish--and expensive--benefit opening, the fair will host a more modest affair this year and spend some of the savings on transporting leading members of the international art community to the fair. Low-cost travel packages are also being arranged to attract foreign visitors, whose attendance has been sparse at past Los Angeles fairs.

Special features planned for 1991 include displays of work by young artists from six galleries in the Netherlands and four galleries in Milan. Three galleries from Mexico--Galeria Arte Actual Mexicano, Galeria de Arte Mexicano and Galeria OMR--will participate under the auspices of Artes de Mexico, a city-wide celebration of Mexican culture planned in conjunction with the County Museum of Art’s presentation of the landmark traveling exhibition “Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries.”

A final count of participants is not available, but local participation appears very uncertain. Such prestigious galleries as James Corcoran and L.A. Louver have decided not to participate in ART/LA91 and many others are undecided. Some Europeans believe that the West Coast economy is more buoyant than their own, however, and they are considering “testing the waters in Los Angeles,” Angel said.

Meanwhile City Councilman Joel Wachs, chairman of the fair’s advisory board, is promoting the fair in a press release. “Cultural activity here is at a critical juncture and we need the contributions of ART/LA,” Wachs said in the prepared statement. “This is a great opportunity to help support the city’s emergence as a world class cultural center.”