Hammer Blog

On Sunday, May 22, the Hammer welcomed hundreds of kids and their families for our annual family fundraiser, K.A.M.P. (Kids’ Art Museum Project). All proceeds enable us to continue offering our growing calendar of free family programs. With 18 unique workshops imagined by artists, everyone found something to get their creative juices flowing.

It's the end of the month, so it's time once again for Hammergram! We are fascinated by the photos our visitors take of the objects and spaces at the Hammer. Hammergram is a monthly round-up of our favorite visitor photos in the hopes that it will inspire you to share your own Hammer experience with us.

In 2008, Hammer Projects curator James Elaine relocated to China. He has since settled in Beijing and opened the nonprofit art space Telescope. Jamie is our feet on the ground and bring us his musings on art, life in China, and anything else that might strike his fancy.

Rodney McMillian's Chairs and Books (2004) from the Hammer Contemporary Collection is currently on view through June 26 in the exhibition Rodney McMillian: Views of Main Street at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. Organized by the California African American Museum's deputy director of programs and exhibitions Naima Keith, the exhibition focuses on the recurring theme of domesticity in the artist's work.

For last Sunday’s Art in Conversation tour, Youssef and I opened a dialogue about William Leavitt’s Luxury Items (1974) and Anni Albers and Alexander Reed’s case of necklaces. Materialism, luxury, and value were central to our discussion.