The Hammer Museum is now showing "Made in L.A. 2018," the fourth iteration of the Hammer’s biennial exhibition highlighting the practices of artists working throughout the greater Los Angeles area, with a primary focus on emerging artists. Organized by Hammer senior curator Anne Ellegood and the recently appointed assistant curator Erin Christovale, the exhibition is on view June 3 – September 2, 2018.

“Every Made in L.A. offers a distinct vision of the innovative work created by artists in Los Angeles,” said Hammer Museum director Ann Philbin. “Made in L.A. 2018 underscores that Los Angeles is a uniquely creative nexus where artists from all over the world connect across generations, disciplines, and backgrounds.”

Among the artists included in Made in L.A. 2018 and their works, there are shared interests and areas of exploration. Reflecting on the current political climate, the body—and the social, physiological, and psychological pressures put upon it—is a frequent theme, as is the desire for community and a sense of place rooted in the local.

Considerations of the landscape, changes brought on by climate change, and the relationship between the land, capitalist expansion, and violence are also shared preoccupations. While the exhibition is not overtly political, it is inevitably informed by the dramatic shifts in our country since the 2016 election and how they impact the contemporary landscape and culture of California.

After making more than 200 studio visits, as well as visiting numerous gallery and museum exhibitions during their research, the curators selected 32 artists who represent a cross-section of Los Angeles. Made in L.A. 2018 features newly commissioned works from artists who recently received their MFAs, including Nikita Gale and Christina Quarles, to continued investigations of multiyear projects by artists like Carolina Caycedo and Alison O’Daniel, as well as selected bodies of work from mid-career artists such as James Benning, Daniel Joseph Martinez, and Linda Stark. The works span a broad range of mediums including textiles, performance, painting, video, sculpture, assemblage, photography, and installation.

Several of the artists in Made in L.A. 2018 consider the history, cultures, and landscapes of Los Angeles through a range of forms and materials. For one, Mercedes Dorame, an artist who is a member of the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe of California, explores her grandparents’ land in Malibu through photography, activating her images with the remnants or traces of her own interpretations of Tongva ceremonies.

The evocative landscape of Los Angeles has long been a subject for artists. Dancer Flora Wiegmann references the recent wildfires and resulting degradation in Southern California in her performances and video.

In her new film, Gelare Khoshgozaran considers the physical similarities between the California
landscape and that of her home country of Iran in the context of ongoing political tensions. The
film is shot, in part, at Medina Wasl, a national military training center in the California desert
used to simulate a Middle Eastern town.

MPA’s site-specific sculpture Faultline meanders through the museum’s outdoor courtyard and terrace and into the galleries, evoking a metaphorical space in which both oppositional and complementary positions meet.

Made in L.A. 2018 is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue. Visit hammer.ucla.edu for details