The Hammer Museum Spotlights Video Artist Johan Grimonprez

Saturday, 02 February 2008 02:10

Los Angeles, CA - Video artist Johan Grimonprez lives in Brussels and New York, where he is a visiting professor at the School of Visual Arts. He is best-known for his award-winning documentary Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1997). Made from a wealth of found footage including television coverage of airplane hijackings, various propaganda films, cartoon clips, and training videos, the piece explores the history of the past thirty years with a focus on the revolutionary impulse and the increasing prevalence of media in our daily lives. On view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, February 12 – 24, 2008.

These clips are combined with passages read from Don DeLillo’s novels White Noise and Mao II addressing the authorship of history, turning our attention to the ways in which we encounter and interpret the events of our time.

As the current Hammer artist in residence, Grimonprez is at work on Double Take, a new film on the history of television, the Cold War, and Alfred Hitchcock doubles. Upon completion the new film will premiere at the Billy Wilder Theater.

The Hammer Museum’s Artist Residency Program was initiated with funding from the Nimoy Foundation and is supported through a significant grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

Spotlight is a series in the Video Gallery, highlighting works from the Hammer Video Library.

HAMMER MUSEUM INFORMATION

The Hammer Museum is a lively cultural center offering a diverse range of free public programs throughout the year, including lectures, readings, symposia, film screenings, music performances, and other events. The Billy Wilder Theater opened at the Hammer Museum in late 2006. This state-of-the-art venue houses the Hammer’s widely acclaimed public programs and is also the new home of the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s renowned cinematheque.

THE HAMMER MUSEUM, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024   For more information, call 310-443-7000, TTY 310-443-7094, or visit : www.hammer.ucla.edu