Mike Cloud's Hammer Project Features Large-Scale Portraits and Early Collages

Chicago-based artist Mike Cloud will present a Hammer Project at the Hammer Museum, featuring three large, loosely abstracted portraits collaged from materials like paper grocery bags, magazine ads, cash, and printed ephemera. Two of these works are newly commissioned for the exhibition, which will scale the facade of the lobby wall. Cloud, known for exploring social and political themes through abstraction, typically creates mixed-media assemblages using stretcher bars shaped into geometric forms with objects embedded in thick oil paint. Alongside the portraits, the show includes pieces from his Painted Clothing series (2007–8), collages made from children's clothing. The exhibition opens on October 10, 2025, highlighting Cloud's engagement with contemporary issues via a visual language that blends painting and assemblage.