I met up with a friend in NYC on January 2nd and saw two fantastic shows at MoMa. I came home with so many questions and thoughts.
The first one is - slow walkers shouldn’t visit NYC during the holidays, especially in the winter. It’s too freaking cold. :) I am not kidding. I don’t make the rule and I also don’t live in NYC, so please don’t send me hate mail.
Some other thoughts… I don’t know if there is a best setting for artists to ‘exhibit’ their work. I don’t know if all artists dream of having a/the museum as the final resting place for their artwork. I don’t know (other than commissioned works) if artists ever think of where their works will be seen when they are making them.
Those are the questions/thoughts that surfaced as I walked through the sometimes very crowded (they come in waves during my visit) museum looking at Ruth’s work.
I love museums (and the fact that they exist) but I didn’t and don’t always love going to the museums. I obviously love the arts, looking at the arts, learning about the history, and making arts…. I can’t think of a better setting to see the magnitude and a complete body of work of an artist than a museum. But often when I visit the museum… while viewing the work (especially 3D works)… I can’t help but get the feeling that I got when I went to the zoo as a child seeing the lions pacing back and forth inside their confinement, however large…. You get the sense that they are not in their natural habitat.
Ruth Asawa’s works were beautifully curated. As I walked through the galleries, I wondered where these works ‘originally’ resided because they really transformed the space around them. I have seen her work online and in print before but had not seen any of them in person until this show. Her work really needs to be experienced in person…. This is probably true with all arts.
Below are some stunning works by Wilfredo Lam.
