I would love to suggest that everyone go see Now Dig This! at the Hammer Museum, but I can't. Not because I did not think the exhibition was good - it was excellent, but for the mere fact that I, like many many others on Sunday, thronged to the museum on the last day that the exhibition was open. This was the first exhibition to close (that I am aware of) of the first push of Pacific Standard Time retrospectives that opened last fall, and one that had been on my "to see" list since I had initially heard of it. The exhibition, curated by Kellie Jones, illuminates a portion of art that had been under-noted, which is African American Los Angeles Artists from 1960-1980.
Though many forms and materials were represented, the work that resonated with me the most were the sculptural forms, often combining shapes, planes, spaces and emotions. The sculptures taunted me in the galleries, begging me to touch their various materials and complex shapes, with their often found object assemblage speaking to an understanding of an era that could not been understood through observation alone. Soft materials, such as women's nylons in the sculptures of Senga Nengudi become full strength and rigidity while still retaining an allure of softness felt on the skin, while David Hammons' Bag Lady in Flight becomes a moment of visual music, with forms repeated, multiplied, abstracted but never completely leaving the memory of the grainy paper of the brown bags on fingertips after the never ending chore of shopping for food.
Though the selection of sculptures in the exhibition were strong and often dominated the gallery spaces, there was also a smart selection of paintings, drawings and other 2d work included. After many years of seeing the work of Betye Saar within other exhibitions usually as just a single painting within a group show, it was exceptionally nice to see a fairly substantial grouping of her work. The pieces of Sarr's represented in this exhibition are primarily 2d (but not limited to it), and as a grouping take on the magical and delicate quality of the multimedia works of Joseph Cornell's collages.
Overall, my biggest complaint is that I wanted more - more works and more space dedicated to each work. The galleries seemed a bit too full, making me feel as if I need to make sure I saw everything instead of feeling like I need to take the time to see each piece in its own right. I will have more time to contemplate the legacy of each these works with the hefty exhibition catalog produced - perhaps the largest of any the PST exhibitions, which is wonderful and necessary as so many of these stories had gone under historicized until now.
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