Image: Huguette Caland, Enlève ton doigt, 1971. Private collection. © and courtesy of Huguette Caland Estate. Photo © and courtesy of Huguette Caland Estate
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles opened "Huguette Caland: A Life in a Few Lines" on September 27, 2026. The exhibition remains on view through February 28, 2027.
Around 150 drawings, paintings, sculptures and textiles make up the presentation, shown together with archival material and ephemera. Through these works the museum presents Caland as an artist closely tied to community, to communication and to the idea of home. Her sensual, brightly colored pieces take up humor, language, gender, aging and the body, and they reflect her refusal to accept social and sexual conventions.
Caland (1931–2019) was Lebanese by birth, became French through marriage and later chose the United States as her home. She spent her final decades in Venice, California. Her inclusion in "Made in L.A. 2016: a, the, though, only," the Hammer's biennial, brought her work back to international attention.
The exhibition was organized by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid in collaboration with the Deichtorhallen Hamburg and the Hammer. Hannah Feldman is the curator, with additional curatorial consultation from Aram Moshayedi and Jennifer Buonocore-Nedrelow. Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy provided major support, with further support from Pamela and David Hornik.
A public program accompanies the show. Highlights tours of the exhibition take place on Saturdays at 1 p.m. On Saturday, October 10, from 8 p.m., the museum holds a free late-night celebration of its fall season, which also includes "Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images" and new Hammer Projects by Vibeke Mascini and Gê Viana. The evening offers after-hours access to the galleries, with DJ Shay Elys playing in the courtyard. A curator walk-through follows on Sunday, October 11, at 3 p.m.
