Hammer Museum presents ’Joan Didion: What She Means’

The Hammer Museum at UCLA will be shining a spotlight and asking visitors to deeply reflect on one of the country's most acclaimed authors and thinkers in its new exhibition "Joan Didion: What She Means." The exhibition, which will open Oct. 11 and run through Jan. 22, 2023, functions as a portrait of the late author and is organized by Hilton Als — writer, curator, and critically acclaimed New Yorker contributor — in collaboration with Hammer chief curator Connie Butler and curatorial assistant Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi. "Joan Didion: What She Means" features roughly 60 artists including Vija Celmins, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Maren Hassinger, Silke Otto-Knapp, John Koch, Jorge Pardo, Noah Purifoy, Ed Ruscha, Betye Saar, Pat Steir, and many others. Over 200 works will be presented, including paintings, photography, sculpture, video, film footage, manuscripts and other ephemera. Opening less than a year after her death at age 87, "Joan Didion: What She Means" was first planned in 2019, with Didion's blessing.