so I stopped in at the hammer a few days ago (early december 2014) and as always didn't know what to expect..all new exhibits...i usually space my visits every 2 or 3 months (for the art exhibits, sometimes I come more frequently for special presentations). ..and as you can probably tell from my other posts I am NOT always fond of what the hammer has to offer in the revolving art exhibits (albeit their permanent collection is awesome)...; nonetheless, I try to give the temporary exhibits a fair chance , except when the so-called "art" is nothing more than pornography..not even disguised pornography..; we ALL know when a nude is beautiful art versus pornography...all of your physical senses automatically detect it...trust your senses...and hammer has definitely without a doubt numerous times exposed us to pornography , plain & simple. And they've done it again with parts of the Heinecken exhibit..NOT all of it, but a few pieces (not shown here)..including one or more of nude women alongside eachother...supposedly in a suggestive pose..; and the further problem at the hammer is that you FEEL the presence of the security guards watching you watch the art. So it is very AWKWARD to look at suggestive nudity with young men in uniforms watching you look at it. And they seem to have a whole new crew of security guards...none of whom I recognized or remembered. I didn't even see the one guy who seems to have been there forever..a decent fellow who I came to rely upon being there. I asked one of the new african-american guards why there were so many new faces...and he said they were "temps"...said there was a special event..but he didn't know what was the special event; I looked at the calendar and didn't see anything about any special events, other than the regular periodic movies and forums, etc. And he called me "man" which is pejorative around los angeles. If somebody lower in stature (in terms of education etc, like a store clerk or guard et al) calls you "man" or "dude" or even sometimes "sir" with the wrong tone, they are being CHEEKY and what you might call a "punk." He definitely was not being truly respectful. So I cut off the conversation, and walked out of the Heinecken exhibit. That's the other problem. Even if you want to truly try to understand the artistic aspect of some of the exhibits at Hammer that display nudity, if you have uneducated "punk" security guards thinking that you are simply enjoying looking at nudity in a pornographic manner, and not truly understanding the potential artistic aspect of it, you might as well be going to a x-rated theatre, with all the associations that comes with it. If you are any sort of respected person, especially conservative, in the community and these punk guards disrespect you for viewing the art on display at the hammer, ...you're better off not going at all. Or if you do...beware!
