museum tours

my friend's niece was in town this week, so today we took her to the whitney museum for their biennial exhibit and for the selections from their own collection, 1900 - 1965 (they have many georgia o'keefe and edward hopper paintings that i enjoy seeing over and over). the biennial exhibit consists of many current artists whose work is not always a thing of beauty, but certainly causes one to pause and think. i've seen this exhibit with a few of my friends now, and i find that i'm appreciating the many different opinions about it, which has caused me to appreciate the actual exhibit much more than when i first saw it.

 here radha is taking a pic of a painting by richard anuszkiewicz, completed in 1963. the bright colors (only three are used) and fluctuation in the width of the lines cause one's eyes to squint. it's not an easy painting to look at, but utterly fun to wonder about.

 this one is by alex katz, 1964, oil and acrylic on compostion board. the figure pops out of the blue and i find it very whimsical.

 out in the country, by gertrude abercrombie, 1939. radha and i really liked this one. it felt magical and beautiful, yet stark and existential.

the museum is also exhibiting alexander calder's circus figures, along with a movie he made of a performance he did with them. 

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 after an afternoon at the whitney, i met greg at the rubin for tea and coffee before joining a curator's tour of their new exhibit, titled the power of intention.

 the rubin museum's exhibits usually manage to fill me with hope and help me think about the spirituality behind people's artistic creations and actions. their latest exhibit presents work by current artists that reflect how they see positive change happening through the metaphor of the tibetan prayer wheel.

 greg was the first to try this sound wheel. as you press on the cloth, you can see your figure in the mirror behind, reflecting shape, sound and intention.

 these coils were hooked into computer software that presented words from newsreels. the words shone in red above each column, and the coils lit in response to the amount of present usage online. it was an interesting presentation of the cyber world made tangible. i think i need to observe it again for a full understanding!

a wind powered prayer wheel from prior to 1920 tibet, made of metal, bamboo, string, ink and paper.