Houseguest: Francesca Gabbiani
FEB 15 – MAY 24, 2009

The Hammer Museum presents the second exhibition in Houseguest, a new series in which artists are invited to curate a show from among the university’s diverse collections. For this exhibition, Los Angeles-based artist Francesca Gabbiani explores the subjects of witchcraft and sorcery. She browsed through the collections of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer, and UCLA’s Departments of Special Collections at both the Charles E. Young Research Library and the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. Gabbiani pursued her research with an eye for mysterious and macabre images, illustrations of poisonous and deadly plants, as well as representations of unearthly figures like saints and fairies. The eclectic selection of prints and illustrated books range in date from the Renaissance to the present. In this installation, Gabbiani proposes an intriguing exploration of mystical powers and magic spells.