New York Museums

I LOVED the Guggenheim - like I think I said before. The way the building is designed is fantastic - although undoubtedly not the most efficient use of space. I lost Aaste around the 4th level because I became mesmerized by a video installation about Wagon Stations at A-Z West. This has something to do with a U.S. alternative desert community, somewhat related to "Burning Man" and "Joshua Tree" - two alternative events/communities that I have recently become remotely aware of mostly due to my foray into couch surfing.

These exposures to 'alternative' / creative sub-cultures have made me wonder if part of the reason that I have embarked upon this 'journey' is to help me to reconnect / connect with the creative/alternative persona within. There is a part of me that is at home in 'that' world. Yet there is a part of me that is at home in the 9-5 / capitalist / mainstream culture. I seem to straddlle the worlds and can not decide to be completely a part of either.

At the Guggenheim I also learned for the first time of the Italian ' divisionist' painters. Drawing heavily on the French impressionists and pointilism (ala George Seuralt) they juxtoposed strokes of pigment to create visual effects of intense single colours. I was impressed.

As much as I loved the Guggenheim - the Museum of Modern Art was even more impressive. The collections there were fantastic, and I look forward to the day I can return. (For that matter, I am now even more excited about visiting the Tate in London.) In addition to fantastic collections of Picasso (always enjoyable) and Matisse (never quite understood the attraction, although there are some pieces I find mesmerizing), they have entire rooms of Pollack and Warhol, not to mention memorable pieces by Cezanne, Sereaut and Rosseau. I came upon the amazing optical illusion paintings of Bridget Riley. I spent minutes infatuated with a painting by Canadian born painter Philip Gaston and am now on a quest to discover the relationship between Georges Braque (whom I had never heard of) and Picasso. Of course the entire room filled with the enormous triptych (c1920) of Monet's "Reflection of clouds in the Water Lily Pond" was almost worth the price of admission alone. I was particularly pleased to spend time with Andrew Wyeth's "Cristina's World" which has always captured my imagination and now know is a glimpse into the world of a spirited woman physically crippled by polio. Finally, the main atrium was decorated by an immense mural of drawings by the Romanian artist, Dan Perjovschi entitled "What Happened to Us" (2007) which was extremely amusing and thought provoking. If I remember I will post the link ... but if I don't - look it up because it is clear and amusing stuff.