If you want to start buying art that calls into question tradition and the status quo (in other words: “You paid what for that?”), you won't want to miss tonight's primer on modern and contemporary British art. Ann Gallagher , the head of collections at the Tate London, will share her expertise tonight at the Hammer to tell you just what it is that makes today's art so different, so appealing and maybe so worthy of investment. Presented in conjunction with the Rachel Whiteread “Drawings” exhibition, Gallagher will share her knowledge of the YBA (Young British Artists) movement and '50s Latin American art, specifically Mexico. She's had a hand in curating exhibitions of the negative-space casts of Whiteread and the fiery activist conceptualism of Mark Wallinger, as well as exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, the British Pavilion and Latin America.

Thu., April 15, 7 p.m., 2010

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