Art Attitude

Hearty congratulations on the commentary about the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It’s about time The Times regained its conscience (“It’s Not a Pretty Picture,” by Christopher Knight, April 25).

Museums establish the major context for the discourse about art in a community. Exhibition programs here have been highly prejudiced against a healthy visual conversation. The basic attitude of both LACMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art toward artists outside hipsterdom is “go out and get a big rep in the Eastern publications, and then we’ll give your work a peek.” There is a definite lack of curatorial confidence, independence and enterprise. Validation comes from without.

The programs at museums here promote the idea that few artists in this region are producing work worthy of their walls. They have developed a herd mentality, primarily a product of the superficial minds of their boards of trustees.

Creating art is an exceptionally social act. Artists do not create in a vacuum but require the nourishment and sustenance of a diverse exhibition program. We’ve been let down. We’ve been had.

WALTER ASKIN

South Pasadena