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Second Nature ~ The Valentine-Adelson Collection at the Hammer Museum

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Written by rubin   
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 03:07

Ruby Neri - Untitled (Lioness), 1998-1999. Fiberglass, acrylic paint, wood and plaster base. 102 x 63 x 44 1/2 inches. Hammer Museum, Gift of Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson. Image courtesy of the artist, and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, CA – Second Nature: The Valentine-Adelson Collection at the Hammer Museum is the first public presentation of sculpture from the extraordinary gift made by Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson to the Hammer Museum in 2007, when Valentine joined the Museum’s Board of Overseers. The Valentine-Adelson Collection comprises more than 50 sculptures by 29 Los Angeles artists, made from 1995 to the present. The exhibition will be presented a selection of work from The Valentine-Adelson Collection and will be mounted in the Hammer’s permanent collection galleries. It is curated by Douglas Fogle, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the Hammer in association with Hammer Curator Ali Subotnick. On view July 19 – October 6, 2009.

Nathan Mabry. A Touching Moment (Tooting My Own Horn), 2005. Terra cotta, paint, wood, lacquer. 60 x 42 x 30 inches. Hammer Museum, Gift of Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson. Image courtesy of the artist, and Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles.Sculpture has been a vital and inventive area of artistic practice in Los Angeles for more than forty years. In particular during the last two decades a significant number of artists working in sculpture have emerged from MFA programs in Southern California and Valentine and Adelson have been keenly aware of this emerging talent. The Valentine-Adelson Collection includes many of these artists such as Liz Craft, Sam Durant, Katie Grinnan, Evan Holloway, Matt Johnson, Nathan Mabry, Jason Meadows, and Paul Sietsema. Influenced by popular culture, work by the artists in this collection is often imagistic, highly fanciful, and playful. Much of the sculpture is made by combining unusual and unorthodox materials and shares a careful, hand-crafted sensibility.

The works in The Valentine-Adelson Collection range from small discrete objects to room-scale installations and include many of the key works by this new generation of artists who are rapidly emerging with national and international recognition. Together, this collection comprises a snapshot of an important moment in the extensive legacy of the Los Angeles contemporary art scene, which has seen significant expansion in the possibilities of sculptural practice.

Artists included in the exhibition:
Edgar Arceneaux, Frank Benson, Jonathan Pylypchuk (aka Rudy Bust), Xavier Cha, Liz Craft, Chris Finley, Hannah Greely, Katie Grinnan, Evan Holloway, Matt Johnson, Martin Kersels, Lisa Lapinski, Won Ju Lim, Nathan Mabry, Jason Meadows, Pentti Monkkonen, Ruby Neri, Ry Rocklen, Sterling Ruby, Paul Sietsema, and Eric Wesley.

ABOUT THE HAMMER MUSEUM
The Hammer Museum, a public arts unit of the University of California, Los Angeles, is dedicated to exploring the diversity of artistic expression through the ages. Its collections, exhibitions, and programs span the classic to the cutting-edge in art, architecture, and design, recognizing that artists play a crucial role in all aspects of culture and society. Founded by Dr. Armand Hammer in 1990, the museum houses the Armand Hammer Collection of Old Master, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist paintings and the Armand Hammer Daumier and Contemporaries Collection. Associated UCLA collections include the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, comprising more than 45,000 prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books from the Renaissance to the present; and the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on the UCLA campus. The Hammer’s newest collection, the Hammer Contemporary Collection, is led by works on paper, particularly drawings and photographs from 1960 to the present.

For current program and exhibition information call 310-443-7000 or visit www.hammer.ucla.edu.
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 11am – 7pm; Thursday, 11am – 9 pm; Sunday, 11am – 5 pm; closed Mondays, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Admission: $7 for adults; $5 for seniors (65+) and UCLA Alumni Association members; free for Museum members, students with identification, UCLA faculty/staff, and visitors 17 and under. The Museum is free for everyone on Thursdays.

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