The Hammer Museum presents the West Coast debut of the exhibit “Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933-1957” running Sunday, Feb. 21 through May 15.

(photo courtesy of the Hammer Museum)

The exhibit is the first comprehensive examination of Black Mountain College (BMC) in North Carolina, which has had a profound impact on art practice and instruction. The exhibition chronicles how BMC became a seminal meeting place and dynamic crossroads for artists, musicians, poets and others who became leading practitioners of the postwar period. They include Anni and Josef Albers, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller.

The exhibit includes painting, sculptures, weaving and pottery. More than 250 objects by nearly 100 artists will be on display. True to the interdisciplinary nature of the school, the exhibition features two soundscapes, a grand piano and a dance floor for gallery performances. Also included are documentary photographs, archival books and audio recordings of poetry readings.

The exhibition is organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston and curated by Helen Molesworth, chief curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to bring ‘Leap Before You Look’ to the West Coast, honoring the values of the renowned experimental Black Mountain College and heralding its role in shaping major concepts, movements, and forms in postwar art and education,” said Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum. “The exhibition underscores Black Mountain College’s interdisciplinary emphasis on inquiry, experimentation and discussion, and reflects some of our deeply held beliefs in art and its capacity to expand one’s internal horizons and encourage participation in community.”

The Hammer Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd. For information, call (310)443-7041, or visit www.hammer.ucla.edu.