The elephant isn’t the elephant in the room

Re “Painted Pachyderm Draws Outcry,” Sept. 16

Only the desperately trendy could be attracted to the latest debacle by British artist Banksy. In his art exhibit’s feature piece, “Elephant in the Room,” a fully painted live elephant is made to stand in a putrid warehouse for eight hours at a stretch. By exploiting the 38-year-old elephant, Banksy supposedly comments on big problems nobody talks about, like poverty or bad water. His ironically flat-footed metaphor misses the real elephant in the room: animal abuse.

HOLLAND VANDIEREN

South Pasadena

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Banksy’s exhibition deserves to be properly reviewed. The Times’ article focused on concerns about the “frivolous abuse” of the live elephant. What about the art? We focus on pets, Paris, pedicures and purchases. Frivolous pursuits indeed, compared with the billions of people living below the poverty line, the killing in Iraq and the occupant of the White House. There is an elephant in the room, as this talented artist reminds us.

GWEN ROBERTS

Los Angeles