We decided to import artists instead of art.

while grounded in representation, all these artists incorporate unusual, space-altering perspectives, surprising shifts in scale and unorthodox sight lines - pensive individuals are glimpsed in profile or from behind while walking somewhere. Architecture figures prominently, especially in rooms that are worn, yet spacious and inviting.

This is a very ambitious show for the Anderson Gallery. And this is a special circumstance for Richmond, bringing in world-class artists for an unorthodox show. It's a challenge for them and a risk for us.

An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them.

I don't believe in art. I believe in artists.

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.