Hammer Blog

It's a great time to be a Hammer member! In celebration of two new exhibitions, members are invited to an opening party in early February. And in March, members will enjoy a coffee reception and private viewing of Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris, 1880 to 1914. Get more information about these events below, and stay tuned for more exciting events we have planned just for you.

Opening Party: Take It or Leave It: Institution, Image, Ideology



Saturday, February 8, 2014
Fellows Walkthrough 5:30PM
Director’s Reception 6:30-8PM
Opening Party 8PM-10PM
L.A. based DJ Sharper Image to spin | Hosted bar | Galleries open late
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Coffee Talk!



On Saturday, March 1 Hammer members will join exhibition curators Victoria Dailey and Cynthia Burlingham, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Hammer Museum, for coffee and a private viewing of Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris, 1880 to 1914.
To become

Beginning February 9, the Hammer Museum eliminates its admission fee and becomes entirely FREE to the public! Free admission coincides with the opening of the Hammer’s new exhibition Take It or Leave It: Institution, Image, Ideology. Join us for the opening day celebration, featuring a photo booth and fun giveaways!

The Hammer is committed to eliminating admission fees permanently. Free admission is made possible through the generosity of longtime Hammer Museum benefactors Erika J. Glazer and Brenda R. Potter. Erika Glazer is an art collector who joined the Hammer’s Board of Directors in 2009. She has worked in the real estate business, construction, and as a private investor since 1976. Brenda Potter has been a Hammer supporter since 2003. An avid art collector, Potter is also a Fine Art Commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills.

The Hammer’s roster of more than 250 public programs each year—including readings, lectures, conversations between cultural figures

The Hammer is pleased to be participating once again in Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair on Thursday, January 30 through Sunday, February 2, 2014 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Sara Beattie, Brooke Berlin and Lauren Molina from the Museum Store will be on hand at the Hammer’s booth with zines, artist books and editions, rare and out-of-print books, and other signature Hammer items. Here’s a practical guide to the fair from Darin Klein, the Hammer’s public programs associate.



Darin Klein’s Guide to Enjoying Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair

If there was a Black Belt for making the most of an Art Book Fair, I’d probably have it! I climbed the ranks without a sensei, but I’m happy to share what I have learned from my many years of experience in New York and Los Angeles. Before I jump into the details of my finely honed skills, I’ll

Telescope presents Beijing artist Zhang Xinjun’s first solo exhibition.

Beijing artist Zhang Xinjun’s work is born out of his relationship with the common materials and objects found in his everyday life and how they relate to his local surroundings. He references a general history and his personal past through the objects and their new relationships between themselves. The elements that make up his installations are not intended to convey any specific or symbolic meaning, only to nurture an ambiguous setting suspended in time between childhood, the mother, daily life, memory, living spaces, society and the surrounding environment.

In Zhang’s Telescope exhibition, desks, tables, and chairs from his childhood school, are all linked together by rays of yellow thread that pierce the wood and continue on unhindered like sunbeams passing through glass. The children’s furniture, tilted on the floor, suspended in air, frozen on the wall, defy gravity and reason

The title of this post was inspired by the Storefront for Art and Architecture in NY, founded in 1982 as a nonprofit committed to the advancement of innovative positions in architecture, art, and design. In 1993 artist Vito Acconci and architect Steven Holl designed the façade for the Soho area building.  I saw it for many years while living in NY and have thought of it many times as I wander the streets of the cities and towns of China. This is my observed (and imagined) interpretation of their interest in blurring the lines between architecture, art, design, interior and exterior space. In China, this is just a way of life and happens everywhere. No symposiums necessary… --James Elaine