Joan Didion: What She Means
Joan Didion: What She Means is an exhibition as portrait, a narration of the life of one artist by another. Organized by critically acclaimed writer and New Yorker contributor Hilton Als, the exhibition features approximately 50 artists ranging from Betye Saar to Vija Celmins, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Maren Hassinger, Silke Otto-Knapp, John Koch, Ed Ruscha, Pat Steir, and many others. The more than 200 works include painting, ephemera, photography, sculpture, video, and footage from a number of the films for which Didion authored screenplays.
Opening less than a year after her death at age 87, and planned since 2019, Joan Didion: What She Means follows a meandering chronology that grapples with the simultaneously personal and distant evolution of Didion’s voice as a writer and pioneer of the “New Journalism.” The exhibition closely follows her life according to the places she called home and is laid out in chronological chapters—Holy Water: Sacramento, Berkeley (1934–1956); Goodbye to All That: New York (1956–1963); The White Album: California, Hawai‘i (1964–1988); and the final chapter, Sentimental Journeys: New York, Miami, San Salvador (1988–2021).
Joan Didion: What She Means is organized by Hilton Als in collaboration with Connie Butler, chief curator, and Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, curatorial assistant.
EXHIBITION TOUR SCHEDULE
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles: October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023
Perez Art Museum, Miami: July 13, 2023–January 7, 2024
ARTISTS
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Kenneth Anger (American, b. 1927) |
Chiura Obata (Japanese-American, 1885-1975) |
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![A graphite drawing on paper of the desert floor contained in two differently sized, side-by-side rectangles]()
Vija Celmins, Untitled (Double Desert), 1974Graphite on paper. 12 5/8 × 24 1/8 in. (32.1 × 61.3 cm). Collection of Mary Patricia Anderson Pence. Photo: Ian Reeves -
![A black and white photo portrait of writer Joan Didion using her turtle-neck sweater to cover her face]()
Brigitte Lacombe, Joan Didion, New York, NY, 1996Black-and-white photography. 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist. -
![An abstract oil on canvas painting of a waterfall]()
Pat Steir, July Waterfall, 1991Oil on canvas. 114 3/8 × 103 in. (290.5 × 261.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Promised gift of Robert Miller and Betsy Wittenborn Miller. © Pat Steir. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY -
![A mixed-media installation with steel chains and rope arranged on a gallery floor]()
Maren Hassinger, River, 1972/2011Mixed-media installation with steel chains and rope. 7 × 89 × 358 in. (17.8 × 226.1 × 909.3 cm). The Studio Museum in Harlem. Gift of the artist. Photo: Adam Reich -
![An organic sculptural shape in rust and turquoise hues]()
Liz Larner, inflexion, 2013Ceramic, epoxy, and pigment. 18 1/2 x 36 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches (47 x 93.3 x 26.7 cm). Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Purchase © Liz Larner. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles -
![A painting showing a partial view of an artist's studio, with canvases on the floor and another on an easel in the foreground. An open door lets light in]()
Helen Lundeberg, Studio-Afternoon, 1958-59Oil on canvas. 24 × 30 in. (61 × 76.2 cm). Long Beach Museum of Art, Gift of Joseph H. Miles, 1972 © The Feitelson / Lundeberg Art Foundation. Photo: Gerard Vuilleumier -
![A painting of a woman with her hair in bun, sitting on a padded sofa in a nicely decorated room]()
John Koch, Portrait of Dora in Interior, 1957Oil on linen. 14 × 16 in. (35.6 × 40.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Katherine Schmidt Shubert Bequest. © John Koch (1909-1978). Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala/ Art Resource, NY -
![A black and white photo showing the artist Georgia O'Keefe standing in the corner behind a chair, next to a large painting of clouds]()
Todd Webb, Georgia O’Keeffe with Sky above Clouds II, 1965Gelatin silver print. 8 × 9 15/16 in. (20.3 × 25.2 cm). Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation -
Announcement of the twenty-first Prix de Paris in the August 1956 issue of VogueCondé Nast Archive -
Cover of Vogue, August 1956 issue, featuring the model Margo MooreMagazine loose issue: ink on paper. 12 7/8 × 9 3/4 × 1/4 in. (32.7 × 24.8 × 0.6 cm). Condé Nast Archive. Photo: Richard Rutledge, Vogue © Condé Nast -
![Color film still showing a landscape with the sun setting on the horizon]()
Andy Warhol, Reel 77 of **** (Four Stars) (“Sunset”), 196716mm film, color and white, sound. 33 min. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute -
![A sculpture made from the detritus of the Watts Uprising]()
Noah Purifoy, Watts Uprising Remains, 1965-66Found-object assemblage. 24 x 24 x 6 in. (61 x 61 x 15.2 cm). Private Collection. Photo: Karl Puchlik -
![A series of color photos of a beach, with the tide filling in an indentation in the sand in the shape of a body]()
Ana Mendieta, Untitled: Silueta Series, 1976 / 2001, July 1976Color photographs (exhibition copies). Nine photographs, 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) each. Edition of 10 with 3 AP. Courtesy the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection LLC and Galeries Lelong & Co., New York. © 2022 The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York -
Theodore D. Judah, Map of the Sacramento Valley Railroad from the City of Sacramento to the Crossing of the American River at Negro Bar, Sac. Co, September 16, 185468 x 44 cm., sheet 71 x 47 cm. Huntington Library Rare Maps Collection -
![Sculpture by Amanda Williams depicting a stack of gold bricks on a wooden pallet]()
Amanda Williams, It's a Goldmine/Is the Gold Mine?, 2016Imitation gold metal leaf on salvaged Chicago brick. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery. Photo: Nathan Keay -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane -
Joan Didion: What She Means, installation viewHammer Museum, Los Angeles, October 11, 2022–February 19, 2023. Photo: Jeff McLane
Joan Didion: What She Means is made possible by lead funding from Cindy Miscikowski. Major support is provided by Allison Gorsuch Corrigan and Wendy Stark and the Walske Charitable Foundation. Generous funding is also provided by Agnes Gund, Bill Hair, Amara and Alexander Hastings, Maurice Marciano Family Foundation, and Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy, with additional support from Dana Delany, LLWW Foundation, Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein, and Lee Ramer.
Media sponsorship is provided by Cultured magazine and LAist.
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