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| Thomas J Price, A Place Beyond, 2023. Private collection |
The Hammer is showing a bronze statue by London artist Thomas J Price. It's a smaller (9-ft high) version of a 5-meter (16.5 ft) statue recently installed outside the V&A East, London. According to the Hammer label, Price traveled to Los Angeles in 2023 to recruit volunteers for a new work called
A Place Beyond. He used 3D scanning to create a composite of multiple subjects in everyday clothes, holding a phone.
Ben Eastham,
writing in The Guardian, called the London bronze "the quintessence of East London youth." He says it was based on "local people," as in Londoners. But it's clearly the same figure that the Hammer label is calling "an amalgamation of various Angelenos." The Hammer label doesn't even mention the London statue.
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| London version of A Place Beyond |
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| Hammer label |
By the way, what has happened to the Hammer's sculpture terrace on Wilshire? It's been vacant since March. Though the Price is over-life-sized, it's probably too small to work well on the terrace. The terrace's inaugural loan, of
Sanford Biggers' bronze Oracle, was a 25-ft-high bronze. It was followed by
an AR (virtual) sculpture by Nancy Baker Cahill and
an inflatable by Alake Shilling, made of data and air, respectively. It's looking like there aren't too many movable sculptures of appropriate scale.
Comments
> of Sanford Biggers' bronze
> Oracle,
Contemporary artworks can become so socially and politically self-conscious, they straddle the line between sincerity and mockery. Biggers' outdoor work was so goofy looking, it seemed to beclown the human figure it was portraying.
In comparison, Price's interior sculpture in the Hammer very easily could be in the garden or gallery of the Lucas Museum.
Byun Hee-won, Chosun .com:
...blurring the lines between popular culture and fine art...[the Lucas] has also expanded the audience.... Compared to major museums in New York or San Francisco, the proportion of men and children was notably higher. In front of the Star Wars droids...a grandfather, father, and grandson—posed for photos together. The graphic novel gallery was unusually crowded with male visitors ranging from their 20s to middle age. In a mural gallery on another floor, visitors lined up to photograph Banksy’s iconic Girl with Balloon on their phones.
Noah Ziegler, 45, who muttered to himself, “Beautiful, beautiful,” said, “I came because of Star Wars and Lucas, but this place has everything I’ve loved since childhood.” This was the moment when Lucas’s emphasis on “art for the people” materialized in the museum.... Comics, films, and magazine illustrations serve as gateways for those who previously found museums intimidating.
I feel nothing.