Hammer Museum's 'Made in L.A.': Three Artists' Journeys to L.A.'s New Biennial

Simone Forti: Body language

The dances of postmodern choreographer Simone Forti often verge on moving sculpture: In Huddle (1961), a cluster of dancers slowly climb over one another, producing an undulating sea of bodies. For the biennial, Forti sketched her daily viewings of the news to inspire six improvisational dances that link writing, drawing and movement.

COURTESY THE ARTIST AND VENETIA KAPERNEKAS GALLERY. PHOTO BY JEFF STURGES

Meg Cranston's California (Full Size) graces the Hammer Museum lobby during the exhibit.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HAMMER MUSEUM

Artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, with a made-up musical instrument she calls a hundoro.

Location Info

Map

Hammer Museum

10899 Wilshire Blvd.
Westwood, CA 90024

Category: Museums

Region: West L.A.

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LAXART

2640 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Category: Galleries

Region: West L.A.

Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG)

4800 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Category: Galleries

Region: Los Feliz

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More About

• Koki Tanaka
• Meg Cranston
• Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle
• Visual Arts
• Slang and Jargon

Ashley Hunt: Not your average post-Katrina activist

Before a live audience, a narrator sits next to a slide show and begins to talk about the mistreatment of prisoners during the Hurricane Katrina evacuations. What starts out as a lecture quickly becomes storytelling, woven together with videos, witness testimonies, photographs — and the contributions of the audience itself. Artist-journalist-activist Ashley Hunt's ongoing and ever-changing performance Notes on the Emptying of the City uses this multilayered approach to flesh out racial issues in a post-Katrina landscape.

Michele O'Marah: Cover girl

Michele O'Marah's videos simultaneously parody and pay homage to iconic rockers, cult teen movies, comic books, televised political debates and Hollywood B movies. Her new project looks at the ideals of style and beauty through the late fashion icon and magazine editor Isabella Blow, who committed suicide in 2007, three years before the suicide of her protege, Alexander McQueen.

Miljohn Ruperto: Hitchcock on the beach

What happens when you mix an episode of the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and a copy of a German Romantic painting? Miljohn Ruperto's multichannel video installation Seven and Five features a rewritten teleplay of an episode of the show, exploring an existential drama on the beach staged in dialogue with photographs of giant Caspar David Friedrich paintings.

David Snyder: Terror-vision

David Snyder takes the insidiousness of television watching to a new level: His project for "Made in L.A." features a house literally being split apart by a glut of electronic media — talk shows, sitcoms, reality shows — all of which Snyder himself acts out and produces. The line between man and TV grows ugly and blurred: "TV lacks empathy. TV might be a sociopath," Snyder has said.

"Made in L.A." takes place not just at the Hammer Museum but at other venues:

Slanguage at LAXART

Founded by L.A. artists Karla Diaz and Mario Ybarra Jr., Slanguage is an artist collective that approaches art making through education, community building and interactive projects. LAXART will host Slanguage's This Is a Takeover! A 10-Year Survey of Slanguage, which includes a public billboard project and a site-specific mural to be designed.

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park

For Eastsiders who don't want to trek west, LAMAG at Barnsdall Park will feature 16 "Made in L.A." artists throughout its 10,000-square-foot space, including Cain (see above), the "found object" guru Ry Rocklen and the photographer-cum–text-based-sculptor Brenna Youngblood.

Venice Beach Biennial

From July 13-15, Venice Beach will transform from tourist hub to art destination with its Venice Beach Biennial, a playful allusion to the world-famous Venice Biennale in Italy. The boardwalk will host an outdoor art exhibition featuring nearly 40 established artists from the fine art world collaborating with boardwalk art veterans to present new works and live performances.

—Lenika Cruz and Madison Poulter