Richard Koshalek was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, in 1941. He holds degrees in architecture and art history from the University of Minnesota, and has been a curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and director of the Fort Worth (Texas) Art Museum and the Hudson River Museum in Westchester County, New York. He has also served as assistant director of the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington. He is currently the director of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Thisessay was co-authored by Sherri Geldin, the associate director of The Museum of Contemporary Art.
The very fact that The New Criterion has undertaken a national plebiscite on the subject of New York’s claim to hegemony in the arts suggests that certain confidences and beliefs which are crucial to such a claim may already have begun to waiver. Not that New York’s status as a leading force in the art world can reasonably be questioned. But the notion of leadership itself in this context bears greater scrutiny
Specifically, is leadership the issue here, or are we actually speaking of predominance? The distinction appears to be fundamental in addressing the questions raised. Whereas “leadership” suggests being at the vanguard and setting a direction or course of activity, “predominance” suggests having superior strength and influence, though not necessarily occupying the point of origin.
Because of the sheer volume and density of art-related activity in New York, a virtually self-perpetuating sense of “leadership” has been bestowed from both within and
