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Photos Courtesy of the Hammer Museum "Breadface," 2004, Matt Johnson.

Three-dimensional creativity

It's some 'THING' to see

Stroll through the Hammer Museum’s latest exhibition of 51 new sculptural works by 20 largely unknown Los Angeles artists, and you’ll likely hear a few whispered “Wows” break the hushed silence of the space.

What is it about these three-dimensional creations that make “Thing: New Sculpture from Los Angeles” an eye-popping funhouse to explore? Take a look at Kristen Morgin’s life-size, desiccated hulk of a low-rider car that looks like it’s been eaten away by unnatural processes, or Kaz Oshiro’s replica of a tract-home kitchen that’s antiseptically sterile except for one solitary coffee drip and ring.

To pinpoint what makes many of these projects so mesmerizing might be hard to pin down in mere words — or, as sculptor Michael O’Malley puts it, to get at the “thingness of a sculpture — the manner in which labeling and articulation can fail in the presence of the object.”

"Muddle," 2004, Hannah Greely.

There’s a lot here that may leave you speechless or “with a sense of wonderment,” said Aimee Chang, who made up the curatorial team, led by James Elaine, curator of the Hammer Projects. Elaine and Chang, curatorial assistant at the museum, were joined in this project by Christopher Miles, art critic and assistant professor at Cal State Long Beach.

What “Thing” does clearly evoke before visitors’ eyes is the raw imagination, originality and playful wit of next-generation artists, who have taken all manner of matter — coconut fiber, acrylic, Lycra and sisal, to name a few — and skillfully executed objects as “everyday” as an orange peel or a piece of cast-plastic bread with gouged-out eyes and mouth (the show’s icon), or as idiosyncratic as Chuck Moffit’s primal, alien-like sculpture fashioned around a car engine and a tangle of exhaust pipes.

"Reaction Facets: International Airports," 2004, Taft Green.

Hailed by Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight as “the best museum survey of new art that I’ve seen in a very long time,” “Thing” came together after the curatorial team spent eight months visiting many artists’ studios and galleries throughout Los Angeles County. “We began realizing that people were making work in a very open-minded, joyful way,” Chang said.

“Thing” will be at the Hammer until June 5. Admission for staff, faculty and students is free withidentification. See www.hammer.ucla.edu for details.

- Cynthia Lee