Things To Do In Los Angeles: The Transformed Hammer Museum

By Eric Harris

Last month, UCLA’s Hammer Museum revealed to the public a newly renovated and expanded museum — bigger and better than ever with 60% more gallery space, a new outdoor sculpture terrace, fresh exhibitions and installations, and more! It’s not every day that a leading SoCal art institution “transforms.” Things To Do In LA was honored to be invited to the press preview.

The newly renovated Hammer Museum (all photos by Eric Harris/TTDILA)

There’s a lot happening at the Hammer! “Transformed” in the context of the Hammer Museum refers to the museum’s now 23-year journey to fundamentally change the nature of the organization. From a small, private museum focused on historic European and American paintings, the Hammer, currently boasting a collection of over 50,000 items, has metamorphosized into a large, university-affiliated museum focused on contemporary art since the 1960s.

Robert Gober, Untitled, 2012

Among the most visible features of the newly renovated Hammer Museum building are the new street-level main entrance at the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood and new street-level exhibition spaces and sculpture garden stretching the entire block between Westwood and Glendon.

From Wilshire Boulevard, visitors enter though a handsome new entrance into the museum’s main lobby. This new lobby features an exhibition space and currently houses a large textile work by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota titled The Network (2023).

Hammer Projects: Chiharu Shiota, Installation view

The Network is made from more than 800 pounds of red yarn, which represents the Japanese folklore idea that an invisible red thread of fate connects each baby to the network of people who will play a significant role in that baby’s life. The intricate and complicated web is constructed layer by layer from yarn that is stapled into the walls of the gallery or tied to various architectural features such as columns and stair rails. This piece also presents a perfect background for monster girl or Spider-Man cosplay! We’re serious! We sincerely hope that visitors have some fun with this space. The Hammer Projects: Chiharu Shiota March 26 – August 27, 2023.

Hammer Projects: Chiharu Shiota, Installation view

Adjacent to the main museum lobby is a smaller, not-directly connected, auxiliary lobby and entrance to the new gallery in the abandoned old City National Bank. This new gallery is the setting for Rita McBride’s Particulates (2021) which is an “ethereal sculpture” composed of laser beams, water molecules, and surfactant compounds. In less technical terms, this artwork is made from 16 lasers and a fog machine. Yeah science!

Rita McBride, Particulates, 2017

Particulates is a fun site-specific installation. The gallery is a large open space in a partially demolished former bank with fantastic dystopian or cyberpunk vibes for people who are into that sort of thing. It feels like at any moment, a 1980s film action hero will travel though time and space to emerge from the glowing portal in the ruined bank to save Los Angeles from a post-apocalyptic horde of zombie hobos and cybernetic ghosts. We’d watch that movie! Museum officials tell us that the condition of the former derelict bank is fully intentional. Rita McBride: Particulates runs March 26 – November 5, 2023

Rita McBride, Particulates, 2017

Outside the new gallery is the new sculpture terrace which appears to be designed for large-scale works and is set approximately five feet below street-level. The inaugural sculpture is Sanford Biggers’ Oracle (2021). A 25-foot-tall cast bronze sculpture, Oracle is part of Biggers’ Chimera series of work combining African and European masks, busts, and figures. TTDILA has seen the work of Sanford Biggers before, and Biggers’ “Of Many Waters,” also part of the Chimera series, was selected as the inaugural sculpture for the upper plaza of the new Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) building (see that article here). Sanford Biggers’ Oracle will be on display March 26, 2023 – March 24, 2024.

Sanford Biggers, Oracle, 2021

Together In Time: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection is the largest exhibition of the Hammer Contemporary Collection in the museum’s 25-year history with more than 70 pieces of art on display. Many works are presented to the public for the first time since acquisition by the Hammer and evidence the museum’s commitment to “representing emerging artists, Los Angeles histories, and critical developments in contemporary arts.” Academics and Contemporary arts enthusiasts will be excited by the selection of art from artists including John Baldessari, Amoako Boafo, Mark Bradford, Huguette Caland, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Noah Davis, Aria Dean, rafa esparza, Simone Forti, Owen Fu, Charles Gaines, Robert Gober, Eva Hesse, Tishan Hsu, Luchita Hurtado, Mike Kelley, Laura Owens, Noah Purifoy (TTDILA highly recommends The Noah Purifoy Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Art in Joshua Tree, California—click here for our review), Patssi Valdez, and many others. There’s a lot of good stuff here—paintings, mixed media, fake furniture, mannequins sleeping/dead on the floor, Superman-esque miniatures, a decapitated zombie head, a dancing hologram, and a naked woman or two thrown in for good measure. It’s called art, and we suggest taking the guided tour. It’s hard to pick favorites with so many stand-out works. Together In Time runs March 26 – August 20, 2023.

Sasha Gordon, Bonfire, 2021

Together In Time: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Installation view

Tishan Hsu, Breath 3, 2021

Together In Time: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Installation view

Together In Time: Selections from the Hammer Contemporary Collection, Installation view

Bruce Conner, CROSSROADS, 1976

Mike Kelley, City 000, 2010

Simone Forti, Harmonics (2), 1975-78

The Hammer Museum does most things right and offers all the important amenities of a modern museum including a comprehensive selection of public programs and lectures, on-site parking, museum restaurant, and a well-designed gift shop. Museum admission is free.