Picasso and MoMA...

A couple of weeks ago was the first time in almost a year that I went to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. I intimately got to know the museum for my master's dissertation, and I allowed a needed hiatus from the arts institution. One of my colleagues from my old telemarketing gig gave me his guest passes to the museum ages ago. So my favorite and I took the plunge and dove into modern art.

I kind of feel like we jumped in head first into water too shallow for such a sport. The museum was crowded, loud and ugly. I really thought it would have been a bit quieter, but it was like Six Flags on a nice day. Tourists, residents, out-of-towners and us; a mix as usual.

Like good museum-goers, we breezed through the first floor, declaring it "not our cup of tea." There were too many words, and too many complex concepts and connections. Like the art historian I am, I can't even remember the name of the exhibit.

We spent the most time in one of the special exhibits, "Picasso: Guitars 1912- 1914." Oh man. I can't say Picasso is one of my favorites, but I feel like I have to give his art time because of its art historical importance. So that we did. The lighting was dim, and the walls were not the same stark white as in other rooms of the museum, creating an atmosphere. No cameras were allowed, so there was not the same stop, go and flash that occurred in the other galleries.

Guitar, 1913

Here, my boyfriend and I talked more about the art, though both of us didn't really appreciate it all that much. He noted, "I don't really see the appeal of it," standing in front of the first piece in the exhibition "Violin Hanging on the Wall." I am not sure I find the art work all that appealing, but I do understand that there is appeal in it, as I alluded to earlier. Picasso, through his various stages, has marked a place in art history, but I still have a hard time seeing why aesthetically.

Violin Hanging on the Wall, 1913

This show looked at how Picasso was exploring different techniques and avenues of construction, using a variety of mediums and materials, ranging from dust, to newspaper to sheet music to created materials (faux marble and wood). The show was all about Picasso's re-imagining and re-imaging the guitar, through forms, lines, texture and medium. This though, was interesting to me (not necessarily how it looked, but process and concept).

Guitar, Gas Jet and Bottle, 1913

I was really interested in the fake woods and marbles, created by Picasso's paint brush, as well as the texture added by the newspaper and sheet music. The faux "bois" (wood) and "marbre" (marble), become yet another way man manipulates nature, bending it further for human needs and desire. This technique gave Picasso even more room to experiment with the shape and form of these musical instruments, pushing the limits of control.

Guitar, 1912-13

 In looking at the art, I felt that the newspaper along with the sheet music, also added an element of context. Newspaper gives a feeling of the present tense, what events and news is happening at the current moment, or even moments in the past, giving the art history. Picasso was disassembling guitars and violins as well as various other objects, and collaging to create a new whole, a reincarnation of the object that was broken to pieces. The various mediums and techniques to me, add layers of reinterpretation and human control to recreate and create.

posing....

 On the whole, it was a fun adventure. Art seems to always inspire and provoke interesting conversations and opinions. That is one of the main reasons why I love art so much; no one sees anything in the same way.

We deffo left the museum feeling more cultured and....hungry.

xx