When in NYC I saw a lot of bad art and a little good art. Being busy with family and friends, I only managed a couple of half days checking things out but was not too happy with what I did see. I went to the newly renovated MoMA. It was so crowded there were lines to get in. That�s good. People lining up to see art. (And paying the $20 admission fee!) I was fortunate in that the friend I was staying with gave me her membership card so I could bypass the lines. I also got in to see a photo exhibit that was opening the next day (a sneak preview for members!). A German man, Robert Denton. He had constructed (mostly interior office) scenes out of colored paper and photographed them, then destroyed his constructions. The photos were very large (like most these days) and very eerie. Everyone in the room was walking around with questioning expressions on their faces. The photos seemed real and not-real at the same time. Intriguing.
The Museum was, besides being very crowded and having an admission fee of $20, not as intimate. Monet�s �Waterlilies� definitely suffered from being in a room too large for it. Previously it had been in a much tighter room which gave (me) the feeling I was in the same space as the pond. It was lost in renovation. As was any welcoming quality that the Museum used to have.
As for the art, except for a few of the (mostly older) pieces, most of the contemporary exhibition seemed to be very heady, intellectual, lacking heart, without passion. To me, very sad. But that is the way most of the art I saw in NY seemed. Went to a few (very disappointing) exhibits in Chelsea as well. They too seemed like intellectual exercises, nothing more.
Then I heard some artists talking here about their work and felt the same lack of passion. When asked why they paint, what influences them, they said things like "other artwork," "the problem solving" aspects of painting, "seeing what paint can do." Yes, these things are important components of making art. But what about the passion that drives great art! Without that, without the feeling of necessity, that this piece of art (or writing, or music, or dance) has to be, has to exist, has to be what it is and nothing else, than it is just another piece of art. And there is plenty of that.
Posted by leya at March 15, 2005 08:20 PM