A few weeks ago, Maggie Walker art classes had the amazing oppurunity to explore some of D.C's art scene, going from the National Gallery to the Freer and Sackler, and ending the day at the Hirshorn.
This year I think I enjoyed the National Gallery more than I ever had. A freshman-year Jordan would easily say that her favorite museum was the Hirshorn, because of cool light installations and interactive pieces, but this year I really appreciated the sheer scale of the National Gallery, which hosts everything from the famous portraits of George Washington to the works of John Baldessari. It's impossible to become bored because each room can be so strikingly different from the next.
In addition to the "Danny Devito Jesus" painting alluded to by an extroverted security guard, my favorite pieces in the National Gallery were a couple of landscapes by Paul Cezzane, an exhbit of the works of Thomas Cole, and sculture of the figure "justice". Sketeces of many of these are included in my sketchbook entry.
This year I think I enjoyed the National Gallery more than I ever had. A freshman-year Jordan would easily say that her favorite museum was the Hirshorn, because of cool light installations and interactive pieces, but this year I really appreciated the sheer scale of the National Gallery, which hosts everything from the famous portraits of George Washington to the works of John Baldessari. It's impossible to become bored because each room can be so strikingly different from the next.
In addition to the "Danny Devito Jesus" painting alluded to by an extroverted security guard, my favorite pieces in the National Gallery were a couple of landscapes by Paul Cezzane, an exhbit of the works of Thomas Cole, and sculture of the figure "justice". Sketeces of many of these are included in my sketchbook entry.
Going into the Freer and Sacklr, we were asked to explore the Islamic art section. Out of all the works I particularly liked the collection of plates, whose composition was meant to evoke mortals "striving for the divine." Admittingly my favorite part of these galleries was not the Islamic art section, but the Filthy Lucre Exhibit, a re imagining of the peacock room. In my English classes, for my Personal Anthology, I have been collecting texts that are re imaginings or reworkings of classic stories. I love that someone is creating art in that same vein.
Our next and final stop was the Hirshorn. Though our group spent the majority of our time in the Surrealist Sculpture exhibit, my favorite piece was the 6 part stop motion exorcism stop motion animation movie by Sergio Caballero (a better explanation provided here: http://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/baby-kamp/#detail=/bio/sergio-caballero/). As bizarre as it was, I hate to admit that I can’t stop thinking about it.
Our next and final stop was the Hirshorn. Though our group spent the majority of our time in the Surrealist Sculpture exhibit, my favorite piece was the 6 part stop motion exorcism stop motion animation movie by Sergio Caballero (a better explanation provided here: http://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/baby-kamp/#detail=/bio/sergio-caballero/). As bizarre as it was, I hate to admit that I can’t stop thinking about it.
This is not to say I didn't also enjoy the non-objective paintings we were asked to look at:
This one in particualr,
Robert Irwin
Bed of Roses, 1962
made me think of the "zip" paintings by Barnett Newman.
Robert Irwin
Bed of Roses, 1962
made me think of the "zip" paintings by Barnett Newman.
I would be lying, however, if I didn't admit that meeting this little bud was my absolute favorite part of the day.
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