Tara Donovan Transforms Every-Day Materials Into Ephemeral Works of Art
New Site-Specific Hammer Project on view at the Hammer Museum, May 23-September 5, 2004
April 26
Los Angeles, CA—In a site-specific installation for the Hammer Museum’s Vault Gallery, Tara Donovan will use thousands of strands of monofilament to create a large-scale, ephemeral floor sculpture. The particular nature of the monofilament—specifically its density, texture, color, and the optical illusions created in a repeated pattern— allows her to create a spectacular, otherworldly sculpture from this small, ordinary object. Referring to the growth-like process of accumulation, Donovan stated, “it is not like I’m trying to simulate nature. It’s more of a mimicking of the way of nature, the way things actually grow.”
In her time-consuming process, Donovan selects mundane materials specifically for their physical properties, and accumulates thousands, if not millions, of them. In past works, she employed toothpicks, Styrofoam cups, Scotch Tape, tarpaper, drinking straws, and pencils. Then, through a repetitive process using the specific material, Donovan creates sculptures dictated by the unique properties and peculiarities of her chosen medium. Thus, Donovan transforms these familiar objects into unrecognizable and unexpected sculptural creations. According to Donovan, “I respond to the physical properties of the material that will eventually give rise to a structure or unit when accumulated.” Ultimately, the artist’s mission, in her own words, is “to fix the ephemeral and submit the inconsequential to the processes of art-making.”
Tara Donovan was born in 1969 in New York City where she lives and works. She has had solo exhibitions at Ace Gallery in both New York and Los Angeles and at Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Hemicycle’s Gallery, Washington, D.C. Group Exhibitions include the Whitney Biennial, Under Pressure at Cooper Union, New York, and Bits and Pieces at the Dumbo Art Center, Brooklyn. Her works have been featured in W Magazine, Artforum, The New York Times Magazine, Flash Art, and Time Out New York.
Tara Donovan will create a new work specifically for the Hammer Museum. This exhibition is organized by James Elaine, curator of Hammer Projects.
ABOUT HAMMER PROJECTS
Hammer Projects are a series of exhibitions that focus primarily on the work of emerging artists, and reflect the Museum’s commitment to contemporary art by providing international and local artists a laboratory-like environment to create new work, or to present existing work in a new context.
FUNDING
Hammer Projects are made possible with support from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and members of the Hammer Circle.
Tara Donovan’s residency and exhibition at the Hammer were supported by The Nimoy Foundation through funding of The Nimoy Artist Residency at the Hammer.
HAMMER MUSEUM
Through its permanent collections, exhibitions, and programs, the Hammer Museum endeavors to illuminate the depth and diversity of artistic expression through the centuries up to the present moment. Founded by Dr. Armand Hammer in 1990, the Museum houses several collections of art: The Armand Hammer Collection of Old Master, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist paintings, including important examples of work by Rembrandt van Rijn, John Singer Sargent, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Mary Cassatt; The Armand Hammer Daumier and Contemporaries Collection, featuring the painting, sculpture, and lithography of 19th-century French satirist Honoré Daumier and his contemporaries; and The Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, contains over 45,000 works on paper, including prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books dating from the Renaissance to the present.
For more information about the Hammer Museum:
VOICE: 310-443-7000; TTY: 310-443-7094; WEB: www.hammer.ucla.edu
Museum Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, 11am–7pm; Thu, 11am–9pm; Sun, 11am–5pm.
Closed Mondays, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Admission: $5 for adults; $3 for seniors (65+) and UCLA Alumni Association members; free for Museum members, students with identification, UCLA faculty/staff, and visitors 17 and under. Admission is free for everyone on Thursdays. Access for people with disabilities is provided.
Location/Parking: The Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Boulevard. Parking is available under the Museum. Rates are $2.75 for the first two hours with Museum validation, $1.50 for each additional 20 minutes. There is a $3 flat rate after 6 p.m. on Thursdays. Parking for people with disabilities is provided on levels P1 and P3.
Museum Tours: For reservations and information, call 310-443-7041
The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center is operated by the University of California, Los Angeles. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has partially endowed the Museum and constructed the Occidental Petroleum Cultural Center Building, which houses the Museum.
New Site-Specific Hammer Project on view at the Hammer Museum, May 23-September 5, 2004
April 26
Los Angeles, CA—In a site-specific installation for the Hammer Museum’s Vault Gallery, Tara Donovan will use thousands of strands of monofilament to create a large-scale, ephemeral floor sculpture. The particular nature of the monofilament—specifically its density, texture, color, and the optical illusions created in a repeated pattern— allows her to create a spectacular, otherworldly sculpture from this small, ordinary object. Referring to the growth-like process of accumulation, Donovan stated, “it is not like I’m trying to simulate nature. It’s more of a mimicking of the way of nature, the way things actually grow.”
In her time-consuming process, Donovan selects mundane materials specifically for their physical properties, and accumulates thousands, if not millions, of them. In past works, she employed toothpicks, Styrofoam cups, Scotch Tape, tarpaper, drinking straws, and pencils. Then, through a repetitive process using the specific material, Donovan creates sculptures dictated by the unique properties and peculiarities of her chosen medium. Thus, Donovan transforms these familiar objects into unrecognizable and unexpected sculptural creations. According to Donovan, “I respond to the physical properties of the material that will eventually give rise to a structure or unit when accumulated.” Ultimately, the artist’s mission, in her own words, is “to fix the ephemeral and submit the inconsequential to the processes of art-making.”
Tara Donovan was born in 1969 in New York City where she lives and works. She has had solo exhibitions at Ace Gallery in both New York and Los Angeles and at Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Hemicycle’s Gallery, Washington, D.C. Group Exhibitions include the Whitney Biennial, Under Pressure at Cooper Union, New York, and Bits and Pieces at the Dumbo Art Center, Brooklyn. Her works have been featured in W Magazine, Artforum, The New York Times Magazine, Flash Art, and Time Out New York.
Tara Donovan will create a new work specifically for the Hammer Museum. This exhibition is organized by James Elaine, curator of Hammer Projects.
ABOUT HAMMER PROJECTS
Hammer Projects are a series of exhibitions that focus primarily on the work of emerging artists, and reflect the Museum’s commitment to contemporary art by providing international and local artists a laboratory-like environment to create new work, or to present existing work in a new context.
FUNDING
Hammer Projects are made possible with support from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and members of the Hammer Circle.
Tara Donovan’s residency and exhibition at the Hammer were supported by The Nimoy Foundation through funding of The Nimoy Artist Residency at the Hammer.
HAMMER MUSEUM
Through its permanent collections, exhibitions, and programs, the Hammer Museum endeavors to illuminate the depth and diversity of artistic expression through the centuries up to the present moment. Founded by Dr. Armand Hammer in 1990, the Museum houses several collections of art: The Armand Hammer Collection of Old Master, Impressionist, and Post-Impressionist paintings, including important examples of work by Rembrandt van Rijn, John Singer Sargent, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Mary Cassatt; The Armand Hammer Daumier and Contemporaries Collection, featuring the painting, sculpture, and lithography of 19th-century French satirist Honoré Daumier and his contemporaries; and The Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, contains over 45,000 works on paper, including prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books dating from the Renaissance to the present.
For more information about the Hammer Museum:
VOICE: 310-443-7000; TTY: 310-443-7094; WEB: www.hammer.ucla.edu
Museum Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat, 11am–7pm; Thu, 11am–9pm; Sun, 11am–5pm.
Closed Mondays, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Admission: $5 for adults; $3 for seniors (65+) and UCLA Alumni Association members; free for Museum members, students with identification, UCLA faculty/staff, and visitors 17 and under. Admission is free for everyone on Thursdays. Access for people with disabilities is provided.
Location/Parking: The Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Boulevard. Parking is available under the Museum. Rates are $2.75 for the first two hours with Museum validation, $1.50 for each additional 20 minutes. There is a $3 flat rate after 6 p.m. on Thursdays. Parking for people with disabilities is provided on levels P1 and P3.
Museum Tours: For reservations and information, call 310-443-7041
The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center is operated by the University of California, Los Angeles. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has partially endowed the Museum and constructed the Occidental Petroleum Cultural Center Building, which houses the Museum.