One of L.A.'s most important art exhibitions is stuck in COVID-19 limbo
The fifth iteration of the Hammer’s acclaimed biennial bridges east and west with complementary presentations at the Hammer and The Huntington. Works by 30 Los Angeles–based artists are presented at both institutions—two versions that make up the whole. The exhibition features new installations, videos, films, sculptures, performances, and paintings, many commissioned specifically for the exhibition. The opening date of this exhibition is dependent on L.A. County guidelines for museums to reopen.
"The late French-Moroccan artist Nicola L’s 1969 sculptural installation “La Chambre en Fourrure” (The Fur Room), slathered in royal purple faux-fur and studded with pockets, has been re-created inside the Hammer Museum for this year’s “Made in L.A.” biennial. Before COVID-19, viewers were meant to slide their faces and arms into bodysuit-like sacs that hang limply on the exterior of the piece, “wearing” the work as if it were a costume. It was tweaked for the COVID-19 era, now viewable but not interactive — a powerful testament to art interrupted during the pandemic.
A re-creation of the late French-Moroccan artist Nicola L’s 1969 “La Chambre en Fourrure” (The Fur Room), part of the Hammer Museum’s biennial, “Made in L.A. 2020: a version.”(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) But you cannot wear it or even see it. Not yet, anyway.
“Made in L.A. 2020: a version” is fully installed at the Westwood museum and at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens in San Marino — a “cross-town art conversation” that’s easily the most ambitious Hammer biennial installation to date. But with the museums closed and awaiting permission from government health officials to reopen, the exhibition remains shuttered to the public. The works, by 30 emerging local artists, sit in empty galleries, a custom soundscape echoing in one room, a textile work gently rippling from the AC in another.
The biennial originally was supposed to premiere in June. There was hope of opening it in September, but the coronavirus wouldn’t have it. Two offsite outdoor public art projects debuted in late October, but the opening date for the indoor museum installations remains a bold question mark as COVID-19 case counts rise across the U.S."— Deborah Vankin, Nov. 12, 2020
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Los Angeles Times website.
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