For the sixth time, "Made in LA" is back at the Hammer Museum. The coveted biennial exhibition is a city staple that does well to prop up local talents, many of whom have yet to present works at an institution with a reputation akin to that of the Hammer Museum. 

The title of the 2023 edition is "Acts of Living." As the name suggests, the focus goes well beyond traditional mediums and embraces methods of creation not always valued in the canon of art history. Craft, performance and the aggregation of materials are a normal part of life, just as they can be works of art, and this exhibition embraces that sentiment.

Legendary Los Angeles artist Noah Purifoy is behind the name. Purifoy once said, “One does not have to be a visual artist to utilize creative potential. Creativity can be an act of living, a way of life, and a formula for doing the right thing.” Purifoy was a visual artist and sculptor, co-founder of the Watts Towers Art Center, where the quote is now inscribed. The quote, like the Art Center, exemplifies what the Hammer Museum intends to communicate via this year's biennial.

The Hammer Museum is free to visit, so have a look at their website to familiarize yourself with the participating artists ahead of visiting the show, on view until the 31st of December.

Important art shows with a Los Angeles lens are also occurring at our partner museums. At MOCA Grand Avenue, a look at the city in past decades takes place during "Mapping an Art World: Los Angeles in the 1970s-80s." LACMA's "Light, Space, Surface" exhibition stems from the artistic movement that saw Southern California artists focus on how light is reflected, refracted and manipulated through other materials.