Hammer Museum Presents First Museum Retrospective of Andrea Bowers

UCLA’s Hammer Museum presents Andrea Bowers, the first museum retrospective of CalArts alum’s (Art MFA 92) career, spanning more than two decades of works. The exhibition runs from Sunday, June 19 to Sunday, Sept. 4.

The exhibition features approximately 60 of Bowers’ works across various media, including drawings, installation, video, performance, and even neon sculpture, reflecting the artist’s commitment to experimentation. Alongside these works, a “trove of ephemera” further tracing the scope and evolution of Bowers’ practice.

More about the artist from the official press release:

For more than 30 years, the Los Angeles-based artist Andrea Bowers (b. 1965, Wilmington, Ohio) has made art that activates. She combines artistic practice with activism and advocacy, speaking to deeply entrenched inequities as well as the generations of activists working to create a more just world. Bowers has built an international reputation as a chronicler of contemporary history, documenting activism as it unfolds and collecting research on the front lines of protest. Her practice contends with issues such as immigration rights, workers’ rights, climate justice, and women’s rights, illustrating the shared pursuit of justice that connects them.

Andrea Bowers is co-organized by the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The show is co-curated by Michael Darling, the former James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Connie Butler, Chief Curator of the Hammer Museum; and Nika Chilewich, curatorial assistant, Hammer Museum.

The exhibition is accompanied by museum programming, including curator walkthrough, art talks, and even a discussion between Bowers and Butler on Sunday, June 26. See the full list of Andrea Bowers programming on the Hammer’s exhibition page.