Hammer Museum

The Hammer Museum at UCLA is pleased to announce its summer exhibition season, led by Refashioning: CFGNY & Wataru Tominaga and David Medalla: In Conversation with the Cosmos. Also opening this summer are a new Hammer Project by New York-based artist Jordan Strafer, an exhibition curated by artist EJ Hill highlighting the museum’s permanent collection, and more.

Originally presented at the Japan Society, New York, in 2022–23, Refashioning is the Hammer’s first fashion-forward exhibition, featuring transdisciplinary artists and fashion designers Concept Foreign Garments New York (CFGNY) and Wataru Tominaga. Highlighting garments, accessories, and textile works, the exhibition examines the ways in which these two practices—one based in New York, the other in Tokyo—challenge preconceived notions of gender and identity, and in particular what the artists describe as “vaguely Asian” aesthetics. The exhibition will be on view June 9–August 4.

Organized by the Hammer Museum, David Medalla: In Conversation with the Cosmos is the first comprehensive survey in the United States dedicated to the late Filipino artist David Medalla (1938– 2020), an influential figure in twentieth-century art. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue, contextualizes the elusive and experimental practice of an artist whose pioneering work spanned kinetic, performance, and participatory art movements. The exhibition will be on view at the Hammer June 9–September 15.

Hammer Museum director Ann Philbin said, “Refashioning and David Medalla are two incredibly distinct exhibitions, yet both navigate around slippery notions of identity and queerness. I am excited to share the provocative fashions of CFGNY and Wataru Tominaga with Los Angeles, as their work blurs the line between garments and artmaking. I am equally thrilled to present this important retrospective of David Medalla, which is the result of many years of research and study by the Hammer’s interim chief curator, Aram Moshayedi.”

REFASHIONING: CFGNY AND WATARU TOMINAGA
Wide-ranging in their output, the work of CFGNY and Wataru Tominaga is united by an open-ended, pluralistic approach that views fashion as a vessel for new dialogues. Drawing on broad sources for inspiration—from the quotidian attire of New York’s Chinatown residents to the Japanese cute or “kawaii” aesthetic—CFGNY’s work stems from the idea that fashion is relational, and clothes can be used to cultivate new forms of kinship. This idea of bringing together disparate elements to create a new whole is also evident in the creation of emerging fashion designer, Wataru Tominaga. Based in Tokyo, Japan but with a global perspective informed by his international education and work experience with fashion houses like John Galliano and collaborations with brands like Marimekko, Tominaga’s work layers unexpected cultural references, vibrant colors, patterns, and maximalist volumes to create genderfluid designs.

Refashioning: CFGNY and Wataru Tominaga was organized by Japan Society, New York and curated by
Tiffany Lambert, curator.