A new stage was beginning, the start of a new story.

First, there are so many artists. Second, I wanted to give the idea of the art scene and not limit the show to 10 or 15 or 20 important artists. I wanted to restitute something of the life of the scene. Another problem was that I had to decide which artists I could consider. Most are not really from L.A.; they arrived as students or teachers and stayed. Others were born in Los Angeles, but left early. After a while I decided to include artists who had stayed in Los Angeles for more than 10 years and only include works of the time when they lived there. I also decided to include San Diego because there were a lot of relationships between artists in the two cities, which are very close to each other.

We wanted to show how this city became such an artistic capital.

Artists in Europe are really focusing on the Los Angeles art scene. For young people, Los Angeles looks more important than New York. It's the place they want to go and know about. Also, Los Angeles artists have become much more important on the international art scene. They are a real reference for young artists here.

It's huge. That's making a statement. We're out here to win and to take league. That's just the beginning.

I think, in a lot of ways, celebrities represent the American dream. They have financial fluidity and options at their disposal.