Healing L.A. Arts

Regarding Christopher Knight’s commentary “The Question Should Be: Can L.A. Help Heal the Arts?” (Jan. 27):

The current economic and social desperation has turned many politicians and community administrators into arts boosters. It’s true that some of the art they solicit can seem wan in face of the impossible social conditions it addresses. But few realistically expect art to achieve or present any kind of final solution. However, that’s no reason it should remain out of the social or cultural discourse.

A troubling insinuation in Knight’s article is that artists are making this art only because they are trying to stay afloat in these troubled economic waters. Artists have been engaged in art making with political and social agendas for ages, and the dogma that art must be useless and aesthetically pure went out with Modernism.

The criticism surrounding community-based social and political art must knowingly address its objectives, structure and audience to define its significance. This kind of art needs and deserves real critical attention by Knight, not a blanket condemnation.

SUVAN GEER

Santa Ana