MetaChat - I went to the Museum of Modern Art today.

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25 October 2007

I went to the Museum of Modern Art today. →[More:]
It was fab, although a bit crowded. (MINI SHOUTING THREAD: WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HAVE TO STAND RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE PICTURES FOR AGES WHEN IT'S BUSY AND THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE WANTING TO SEE THEM TOO!)

This was my favourite piece, it's a collage, but unfortunately there wasn't a postcard of it on sale. I found it very moving, especially as it was created from salvaged articles.

I also loved the Jackson Pollocks, much to my surprise. Seeing photographs of them simply cannot convey the energy in those paintings, they are astonishing.

I also loved the Henri Rousseau and Rene Magritte paintings and the Alexander Calder mobiles. There was a fantastic exhibition in the photography galleries of Russian modernist architecture which I browsed for over an hour.

Now, this one I just did not get. Call me Phyllis Stein, but to me it looks like the kind of thing that would get a kid a smacked arse when his mum finds out he's drawn all over the wall.

I know New Yorkers complain about the cost of admission, but it was $20 well spent, I was in there for five hours and felt I'd seen just about everything I wanted to see by the time I left.

Tonight it's a romantic dinner with the MO. Aren't I the lucky one.

post by: essexjan at: 16:49 | 11 comments

yay! I love Pollock too. Whenever I see one I imagine him and his cigarette, dangling over the canvas..

posted by By the Grace of God 25 October | 16:53

I've never been, but I imagine MoMA is the happiest place on earth. The closest I've ever come is this book.

posted by youngergirl44 25 October | 17:52

See, this is all well and good, but what many people are wanting to know is whether the MO will be at the meetup?!

posted by TheDonF 25 October | 17:59

MoMA is my favorite museum on the planet -- I think I've written about this before, but the first time I visited I actually found myself in tears at several points, so great was my joy and awe. The Pollocks really are amazing -- like Rothko, there is simply no way to experience their power and grace without standing in front of them in person, and just letting yourself absorb them (or perhaps more accurately, letting yourself be absorbed by them).

I also really love all the Russian modernist stuff, too. And I know that Schwitters collage you liked so much -- it's awesome! (If you ever come to L.A., Jan, you'll want to see the Schwitterses at LACMA and the Norton Simon. Great, great stuff. And if you like Schwitters, you might enjoy some of the other dada collagists, like Hans [Jean] Arp, Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield, and especially Hannah Hoch.)

posted by scody 25 October | 18:19

You're back in NYC already? I feel like you just went to Woodstock yesterday!

I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! I probably won't even recognize you, you skinny minnie!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 25 October | 18:46

The MoMA is the most crowded place on earth that isn't a marketplace, mob or a toilet. That it's worth enduring is part of the vile mystery.

i have always wanted to be able to go off hours... everywhere really. i want a two am teleport pass to everywhere.

Geez, i can't believe your holiday is almost over.

posted by ethylene 25 October | 19:08

i have always wanted to be able to go off hours.

If you give them, or any museum, a call, they'll be happy to tell you what times of year, week, and day, are likely to be quieter.

Of course, even museum can't predict the crazy bus tour of buzzed-up high school students from the hinterlands. But strategic museum-ing is a great skill. Biggest hint: Never go to a museum of any kind in late April, May, or early June.

posted by Miko 25 October | 19:32

One of my greatest regrets is refusing to go into the galleries on my visit to NYC when I was 10. Now I'll have to go to Spain to see Guernica...and I'd rather be involved with someone when I do.

Now, I live four blocks from MOMA.

posted by brujita 25 October | 19:34

If you give them, or any museum, a call, they'll be happy to tell you what times of year, week, and day, are likely to be quieter.

Some museums also have special classes of membership that will allow you access during hours when the museum is closed to the public; this would allow you to duck the crowds.

Unfortunately, such memberships cost a bit of money.

posted by jason's_planet 25 October | 19:50

I went to the MOMA over the weekend; I probably hadn't been there in almost a year. (We have a Met membership, you see. But a friend was in town last week and left me the unused stubs in his City Pass.) The Calder room was fun, especially since it was right next to the Mondrians.

The last exhibit I saw on Sunday was their photography, it left me near tears.

posted by These Premises Are Alarmed 25 October | 20:46

I love that Cy Twombly painting, but maybe only because it reminds me of Pokey the Penguin.

posted by aparrish 26 October | 00:47

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