Richard Artschwager’s blps Presented by LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division),
The Hammer Museum and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
August – September 30, 2013 in Los Angeles and Las Vegas
In conjunction with the retrospective Richard Artschwager! on view at the Hammer Museum through September 1, LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division), and the Hammer Museum along with The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas present a citywide installation of Richard Artschwager’s blps – a word coined by the artist (pronounced “blips”) in the late 1960s which consists of black lozenge-shaped marks meant to inspire focused looking and draw our attention to the places and things around us that often go unnoticed.
LAND’s Director and Curator, Shamim M. Momin, selected a number of sites throughout Los Angeles to place the blps, including Annenberg Community Beach House, Barney’s Beanery, C. Christine Nichols’ Maya Lin Residence, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Covell, Creative Artists Agency, Fatburger West Hollywood, FOODLAB Silverlake and West Hollywood, Gas Station on Riverside Drive, James’ Beach, Jamie and Brad Schlei’s Residence, L & E Oyster Bar, LAND Office, Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Headquarters, Los Angeles Union Station, Lyn and Bill Norton’s Frank Gehry Residence, Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Radiator, Strip Mall on Santa Monica Boulevard, Sun-Lake Drugs, The Dresden Restaurant, Venice Skate Park, and WeWork Hollywood. A selection of blps can also be found in Las Vegas at The Cosmopolitan. A map with the locations of all blps is available for downloading at www.nomadicdivision.org and www.blp.la.
Artschwager’s blps were first installed at the University of California–Davis, and over the years, have been installed in numerous public locations in cities in the U.S. and Europe, such as on subways and building facades, as well as indoor locations such as galleries, and produced in a range of materials, including vinyl, spray-painted stencils, wood, and rubberized horsehair. The blps have transformed art spaces and city streets for decades, creating an opportunity for the “useless looking” the artist aspired to throughout his career.
About the Exhibition
The Hammer Museum is the only West Coast venue for Richard Artschwager!, a full-scale retrospective exhibition of the work of Richard Artschwager (1923-2013). Organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in association with the Yale University Art Gallery, and curated by Jennifer Gross, Seymour H. Knox, Jr. Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Richard Artschwager! features more than 145 works spanning six decades, including sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, and prints. Often associated with pop, minimalism, and conceptual art, Artschwager’s work never fit neatly into any of these categories. The Hammer’s presentation is organized by Senior Curator Anne Ellegood. Following the presentation of Richard Artschwager! at the Hammer Museum, the exhibition will travel to the Haus der Kunst, Munich and the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.
Special Thanks
Rachel Burke, Dr. Ondine Chavoya, Calvin Chu, Jessica Cusick, Candance DeGraff, James Evans, Jay Farrand, Nan Friedman, Chief Mike Gallagher, Jane Glassman, Jim Harris, David Houston, Matthew Kaner, Ben Kessler, Dustin Lancaster, Metro (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority), Nino Mier, Dean G. Ng, Pat Ngoho, Thao Nguyen, C. Christine Nichols, Marc Pally, Jorge Pardo, Chuck Perliter, AJ Sacher, Eyad Zahra, and Heidi Zeller.
About LAND
LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) is a non-profit art organization founded in 2009 as a public art initiative committed to curating site- and situation-specific contemporary art projects, in Los Angeles and beyond.
About the Hammer Museum
The Hammer Museum, a public arts unit of the University of California, Los Angeles, is dedicated to exploring the diversity of artistic expression through the ages. Its collections, exhibitions, and programs span the classic to the cutting-edge in art, architecture, and design, recognizing that artists play a crucial role in all aspects of culture and society.
The museum houses the Armand Hammer Collection of Old Master, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist paintings and the Armand Hammer Daumier and Contemporaries Collection. The Hammer’s newest collection, the Hammer Contemporary Collection, is highlighted by works on paper, particularly drawings and photographs from Southern California. The museum also houses the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, comprising more than 45,000 prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books from the Renaissance to the present; and oversees the management of the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on the UCLA campus.
The Hammer presents major single-artist and thematic exhibitions of historical and contemporary art. It also presents approximately ten Hammer Projects exhibitions each year, providing international and local artists with a laboratory-like environment to create new work or to present existing work in a new context.
As a cultural center, the Hammer offers a diverse range of free public programs throughout the year, including lectures, readings, symposia, film screenings, and music performances. The Hammer’s Billy Wilder Theater houses these widely acclaimed public programs and is the new home of the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s renowned cinematheque.
For current program and exhibition information, call 310-443-7000 or visit www.hammer.ucla.edu.
About The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is the city’s newest luxury resort offering a decidedly different perspective. Located at the heart of The Strip, the resort’s uniquely vertical multi-tower design offers spectacular views of the vibrant city. The new 2,995-room resort features oversized residential-style living spaces with expansive, one-of-a-kind private terraces. The Cosmopolitan’s luxurious resort amenities include a 100,000 square foot casino; Sahra Spa & Hammam and Violet Hour Hair Nails Beauty; three unique pool experiences; Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub, a multi-level integrated indoor/outdoor nightclub and 150,000 square feet of state-of-the-art convention and meeting space. An eclectic line-up of new-to-market retailers include: AllSaints Spitalfields, Beckley, CRSVR Sneaker Boutique, DNA2050, EATDRINK, Jason of Beverly Hills, Kidrobot, Molly Brown’s Swimwear, Retrospecs & Co, Skins 62 Cosmetics, Stitched and Utique. Signature restaurants include: Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill by restaurateurs Bruce and Eric Bromberg; Comme Ça by Los Angeles Chef David Myers; Estiatorio Milos, by international restaurateur Costas Spiliadis; Holsteins from Block 16 Hospitality; Jaleo and China Poblano restaurants by acclaimed Chef José Andrés; Scarpetta and D.O.C.G. by award-winning Chef Scott Conant; and popular steakhouse STK from The ONE Group; bustling culinary food hall The Wicked Spoon; and The Henry, an all-day dining concept. For more information visit: www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com.