History and Information about the Hammer Museum
HAMMER FORUM
An ongoing series of timely, thought-provoking events addresses current social and political issues.
The Iraq War: A Frontline Physician's Perspective
Dr. Vito Imbasciani
Tuesday, June 5, 7pm
HAMMER CONVERSATIONS
This ongoing series pairs creative thinkers from a range of disciplines for engaging, provocative discussions on culture, science, and the arts.
Dr. Michael E. Brown & Julia Sweeney
Thursday June 7, 7pm
Michael Brown is a professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. He is best known for his discovery of Eris, the largest object found in the solar system in 150 years, which led to the debate and eventual demotion of Pluto from a “real†to a dwarf planet. In 2006 he was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People†as well as one of Los Angeles Magazine’s “Most Powerful Angelenos.â€
Comedienne Julia Sweeney is best known for her roles on Saturday Night Live, especially as the androgynous character “Pat.†Her 1996 one-woman monologue, God Said, Ha!, addressed her experience of surviving cancer. More recently she has written and performed In the Family Way and Letting Go of God, the latter explaining her conversion to atheism.
HAMMER SYMPOSIA
Total Chaos: The Aesthetics of Hip-Hop
Thursday, May 31, 7pm
The new book Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop argues that hip-hop is bigger than simply rap music; it is one of the most important arts movements of the past two decades. Join the book's editor Jeff Chang; hip-hop feminist/journalist/writer Joan Morgan; hip-hop theater artist/poet/radio host/political activist Jerry Quickley; egotrip member/artist/graphic designer Brent Rollins; and photographer/documentary filmmaker/video director/author Brian "B+" Cross for a conversation about the aesthetics of hip-hop, its past, present, and future.
Current and Upcoming Exhibitions
Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love, March 2 - June 8, 2008
...And Then Again: Printed Series, 1500-2007, March 23 - July 13, 2008
Houseguest Jennifer Bornstein: Selects From the Grunwald Collection June 8 - September 14, 2008
Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner,
July 13 - October 12, 2008
Hammer Projects
Aaron Morse , through June 12, 2008
Mitzi Pederson , February 29 - May 25, 2008
MUSIC RELATED EVENTS:
HAMMER PRESENTS
Myra Melford & Be Bread
February 28, 8 pm
Pianist and composor Melford currently leads four jazz groups: Be Bread, an electro-acoustic quartet; The Tent, a flexible group of five musicians; a cooperative duo with Marty Ehrlich; and Equal Interest, a collaborative trio with Joseph Jarman and Leroy Jenkins. At this event, Melford and Be Bread perform music from their 2005 release, The Image of Your Body.
Leslie Hall
March 21, 8 pm
Visual artist and performer Leslie Hall screens her music videos and presents an entertaining live show with her beat-dazzling cohort, DJ Dr Laura. Hall is the creator of the world's only Mobile Gem Sweater Museum.
HAMMER SCREENINGS
Thrift Store Movies III
May 23, 7 pm
For the third year, the Hammer Museum and the UCLA Department of Art welcome LA Weekly art critic Doug Harvey and other archivists of found media, presenting a selection of films, videos, and slides rescued from the obscurity of thrift stores, swap meets, and dumpsters. The evening includes excerpts from recent and upcoming programs by the Coalition for Cinematic Conservation and Preservation at The Echo Park Film Center, including an educational filmstrip on the wonders of the banana, vintage Asian and Indian music videos, and the classic ABC of Sex Education for Trainables. This year’s guest curators include media art dynamic duo Animal Charm along with Geoff Haas, Joe Pickett, and Nick Prueher, curators of Brooklyn’s Found Footage Festival.
HAMMER READINGS
Charles Baxter (New American Writing)
Sunday, June 3, 6 pm
Baxter's novel The South Thief will be published by Pantheon in early 2008. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper's, and his fiction has been widely anthologized and translated into ten languages.
Father's Day Erotica(New American Writing)
Sunday, June 17, 6 pm
A variation on a Hammer tradition, featuring readings by: Tosh Berman, Francesca Lia Block, Adam Miller, Catherine Opie, Karthik Pandian, Dahlia Schweitzer, Jason Smith, Catherine Taft, and Carol Treadwell.
Artists, curators, writers, musicians, poets, sculptors, painters, draftsman, printmakers, jazz musicians, educators, teachers, professors, and all other creative people