L.A. Hammer Museum to feature "I Am Armenian" exhibit series

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Hammer Museum announced on Wednesday, Oct. 29 exhibition plans for winter and spring that include the first L.A. solo show for Mexican artist Pedro Reyes and the first American show for the London-based Heatherwick architecture studio, Los Angeles Times reported.

Another first: "Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974-1989," which comes to the Hammer from the Studio Museum in Harlem, and opens Feb. 7. It represents the first comprehensive survey of the prominent conceptual artist's work while he lived and taught in Fresno, before he came to Los Angeles.

"Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio," which opens Feb. 20, will be the first American exhibition for English designer Thomas Heatherwick and is intended to coincide with the announcement of a major North American project by his studio.

Other notable programming includes a novel dance project performed by Maria Hassabi from Jan. 31 to March 1.

Another first for the Hammer is Reyes' show, which opens Jan. 31. The show will feature a two-day interactive component called "The People's United Nation" or "pUN."

Also coming to the Hammer: the colorful wall paintings of Dutch artist Lily van der Stokker and a show with the self-explanatory title, "Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now."

Director of public programs Claudia Bestor laid out the museum's plans for the yearlong series. The first is called "The Next Wave" and deals with pressing water issues around the world, including the global implications of rising sea levels, fracking and coral reef die-off.

The second is called "I Am Armenian" and marks the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, when Ottoman forces systematically murdered more than 1 million people. (Turkish authorities have long denied any campaign of systematic extermination.)

Rounding out the new programming is a film series called "The Contenders," which screens notable films from the last year that the Hammer deems to have lasting significance. New York's Museum of Modern Art is a partner, and MOMA's chief curator of film, Rajendra Roy, said he most excited about "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night," directed by Los Angeles-based Iranian American director Ana Lily Amirpour.