Hammer Blog

Last Friday, October 3, the Armand Hammer Collection reopened in galleries newly designed to show off the museum’s impressive array of old master and 19th Century paintings, drawings, and sculpture. The product of months of careful planning by curator Cynthia Burlingham, exhibition designer Peter Gould, and colorist Scott Flax, along with a dedicated team of Hammer staff, the new installation situates this diverse selection of works within galleries that seamlessly combine contemporary and historical elements.

Since Cai Lun greatly improved paper production during the Eastern Han Dynasty, 25-220 AD, by using cheaper materials and making it more accessible to the common people, zhezhi, or paper folding, and Jianzhi, paper cutting, have had important ceremonial and decorative roles in Chinese society and culture.

For as long as she can remember, N. Dash (who goes by her surname) has occupied her hands by working small bits of fabric between her fingers. This idiosyncratic activity results in what Dash refers to as “primary source material,” from which all her ideas emerge.

It’s the end of the month, so it’s time for Hammergram! We are fascinated by the photos our visitors take of the objects and spaces at the Hammer. That’s why we decided to launch Hammergram–a monthly round-up of our favorite visitor photos–in the hopes that they will inspire you to share your own Hammer experience with us!

Of all the arts, photography seems both the most intrusive and the most nearly documentary. Its seeming “realness” makes photography feel more aggressive in breaking through barriers of politeness, propriety, and privacy. Perhaps it just shares such intrusiveness--and its accompanying sense of disjunctive irony—with the modern and contemporary society that it reflects.