Second Nature
The Valentine-Adelson Collection at the Hammer
July 19–October 4, 2009

The Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-443-7000

Second Nature: The Valentine-Adelson Collection at the Hammer brings together for the first time a selection from Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson's generous gift to the Hammer Museum's Contemporary Collection of fifty sculptures by twenty-nine Los Angeles artists. Produced from 1995 to the present, these works capture a significant moment in Los Angeles art making, when artists began to take a renewed interest in the production of three-dimensional objects using a wide variety of media, including the handmade and the readymade, sound, video, and cast materials. The works range from small, discrete sculptures to room-size installations. Many have not been shown since their initial presentation, and no single exhibition or publication has previously focused on and documented this core group of works. The importance of this collection is twofold. On the one hand, it reflects a very personal collecting vision. On the other hand, when seen as a whole, the collection provides a portrait of a specific creative legacy of the Los Angeles contemporary art scene, in this case a notable expansion of the field of possibilities for sculptural practice. In 2005 the Hammer launched a new initiative to build a collection of contemporary art. The Hammer Contemporary Collection includes work by an international roster of artists, with a particular focus on those working in Southern California. For this reason, the Hammer Museum takes special pride in the works included in Second Nature, as they form a three-dimensional nucleus of the burgeoning Hammer Contemporary Collection.

Ry Rocklen, Umbrella, 2009. Patio umbrella, epoxy putty, aqua resin, metal, 89 × 85 × 61 inches.