The first Los Angeles biennial, Made in L.A. 2012, organized by the Hammer Museum in collaboration with LAXART, will be presented at the Hammer, LAXART, and the Department of Cultural Affairs’ Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park. The exhibition will feature works by 60 artists from the L.A. region, with an emphasis on emerging and under-recognized artists, and will debut new installations, videos, films, sculptures, performances, and paintings produced for the biennial. This exhibition will offer a snapshot of the current trends and practices coming out of Los Angeles, one of the most active and energetic art communities worldwide. The biennial is organized by a team of curators from both institutions, including Hammer senior curator Anne Ellegood, Hammer curator Ali Subotnick, LAXART director and chief curator Lauri Firstenberg, LAXART associate director and senior curator Cesar Garcia, and LAXART curator-at-large Malik Gaines. In conjunction with Made in L.A. 2012 curator Ali Subotnick is also organizing the Venice Beach Biennial on July 13–15, 2012.

An unconventional, slightly unpredictable project, the Venice Beach Biennial (VBB), is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “real” Venice Biennale in Italy. The project takes the famed Venice Beach boardwalk, Ocean Front Walk, and treats it as an outdoor exhibition venue. Over the course of the weekend around 30 to 40 artists will be setting up vending stands alongside the veteran boardwalk artists, exhibiting new bodies of work, collaborating together with the veterans on new projects, displaying site specific sculptures and/or installations, and presenting live performances. Presented in conjunction with Made in L.A. 2012 and directed by Ali Subotnick. The Venice Beach Biennial is made possible by the Teiger Foundation.

Made in L.A. 2012 is organized by the Hammer Museum in collaboration with LAXART.