The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles has finalized its choice of 35 artists for the second edition of “Made in L.A.,” the West Coast answer to the Whitney Biennial. While the Whitney features artists from across the country, the Hammer focuses on new or under-recognized artists working in Los Angeles.
But there is some overlap between the two surveys, with the activist-artist A.L. Steiner and the sculptor Ricky Swallow participating in both. Also, both biennials will have shows of artwork by Tony Greene, who made lush mixed-media paintings before he died of AIDS-related complications in 1990.
The Whitney Biennial, opening March 7, will include a selection of Greene’s paintings from the late ’80s, curated by the artists Richard Hawkins and Catherine Opie. The Hammer survey will place his work alongside art and documentation from colleagues like Monica Majoli and Ron Athey in a section organized by David Frantz of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.
Michael Ned Holte, who co-curated the Hammer biennial with Connie Butler, called Greene “a very significant artist for a brief period of time,” adding that he and like-minded artists “were vilified by some members of the gay and lesbian community for making work about desire when they were expected to be making work that was political.”
Other artists chosen for the 2014 “Made in L.A.,” which opens June 15, include the photographer-turned-video artist Judy Fiskin, the conceptual-art prankster Piero Golia, and the video/installation artist Harry Dodge. On the less familiar side are some recent M.F.A. graduates, like Devin Kenny (U.C.L.A.), Jibade-Khalil Huffman (U.S.C.) and Danielle Dean (California Institute of the Arts).
The show also includes a few artist-run organizations: the project space and journal Public Fiction; the Chinatown radio station KChung; and The Los Angeles Museum of Art, a micro-gallery in Eagle Rock not to be confused with the much larger county museum of a similar name.
Each artist or collective in the Hammer exhibition is eligible for a $100,000 juried prize, known as the Mohn Award. This year the museum is also offering two new $25,000 prizes: one for lifetime contribution and the other for most-popular work in the show.
The full list of artists: Juan Capistrán; Danielle Dean; Harry Dodge; Lecia Dole-Recio; Kim Fisher; Judy Fiskin; Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess; Mariah Garnett; Gerard & Kelly; Tony Greene; Samara Golden; Piero Golia; Marcia Hafif; Channing Hansen; Jibade-Khalil Huffman; James Kidd Studio; Barry Johnston; Kchung; Devin Kenny; Gabriel Kuri; Caitlin Lonegan; Los Angeles Museum of Art; Tala Madani; Max Maslansky; Emily Mast; Jennifer Moon; Brian O’Connell; Harsh Patel; Marina Pinsky; Public Fiction; Sarah Rara; A.L. Steiner; Ricky Swallow; Clarissa Tossin; and Wu Tsang.
An earlier version of a picture caption and credit with this post omitted some information and the name of the photographer. The picture depicts a 2012 performance by Emily Mast. The photograph was taken by Anitra Haendel.