Dealer-turned-public art empresaria Emi Fontana talking in Artforum about West of Rome:
...people believe that public art needs to occupy planned and assigned spaces. What we're doing is much more fine-tuned: You have to find the space that resonates with the work and with the artist's practice in general. This is fascinating to me. It's something you can do well in a city you love, and I really love Los Angeles. I came here for romance, but when the romance was over I realized I still had a huge romance with the city. It is a constant source of inspiration for me.Baby Ikki bugs, but Emi rocks. But I always thought that West of Rome was selling in some way, too, not just putting on shows outside the gallery/museum/institutional/white box paradigm.
Aha, West of Rome converted to a non-profit and became West of Rome Public Art in 2009.
Also, 500 Words is really such a consistently interesting feature. So seemingly simple, yet so rich. It's the chocolate mousse of Artforum.com.
500 Words | Emi Fontana [artforum.com]
