As always the art is up on 4. It’s up to you to figure out how to get there.
Word play was fun, but kind of annoying with a voicemail overdub droning on like a message from the ’80s.
Of course we interacted. We Obey!
The whale exhibit was a good idea with very lame execution. Maybe that was intentional? Who knows. Computers do much more than the rendering engine the artist decided to use was capable of doing.
Then there was the excellent work of Firelei Báez. Well worth the price of admission.
Romey and I went to the brand new Munch museum in Oslo. This is the third iteration of the museum, which started at the Munch house itself, moved up the hill for a while, and is now located by the harbor next to the opera house. The facility is beautiful, and the art is displayed professionally in a world-class way.
Plan to spend several hours following your nose.
One of our favorite pictures from Oslo comes from the upper floors.
The exhibition spaces are well designed, spacious, and properly-lit.
We made some etching/rubbings of our own.
But of course the main draw is the art on the fourth floor.
Of course we saw the scream (in two of three views)
The Madonna
Escalators abound.
The SOLO OSLO by Admir Batlak is stunning. Fun with fabric. Art with deep roots in design.
We learned a ton about Alice Neel, especially by watching the excellent documentary included as part of the exhibit. Wow.
Alice was in many ways decades ahead of herself for her entire life.
A quick hit to NY was just the right opportunity to spend a few hours steeped in high fashion. The MOMA’s Karl Lagerfeld show is excellent. Well curated, interesting, and aware of its own ridiculous nature. Go see for yourself.
First, your hosts all snazzed up. (One eagle eyed NY fashion geek recognized Romey’s vintage skirt.)
Without further commentary, some bits for the bit pile, led off by sparkle. We proceed backwards in time.
We pause now for station identification.
This interlude brought to you by Romey’s eye for high fashion.
Who even knew that Dallas had a world class art collection? I mean, I should have known since all that oil money has been sloshing around since the ’70s. An unexpected stay in the city (stranded much)?) had a silver lining. Here is some of what I saw at the DMA.
If you get stranded in Dallas, make sure to visit.
On a windy but very clear crisp Spring day, we visited the Kreeger—a small but excellent collection in an interesting architectural space. Chagall, Monet, Picasso, Kandinsky (though the wrong periods), and some very interesting Mondrian are among the finds. What a stunning place to have lived. Must be nice to be an insurance plutocrat!
Ghost Romey in the jungle.
Romey’s favorite, this Picasso woman.
The architecture is 1960’s modern, but still very tasteful and beautiful.
The light on Piet.
Outside was chilly but likewise very well structured.
A series of “wrong” Kandinsky. Late and early, but no just right. Where is Goldilocks when you need her?
We were just here in April (thanks to Bill and Lisa). Things are just about the same, except there is now an ML exhibit curated by an algorithm. Interesting. Here’s what we saw.
We’ll have to come back to see the ML thing properly as we have an actual ML security event to host.
Helicopter from the sky.
Not Kandinsky
Rothko.
This picture does not do this picture justice.
8-finity
Look up!
American pop euphoria air force.
Ah, Vincent
Kandinsky.
Chagall, sorry Romey, “The Birthday” is still out on loan.
Trapped in paint
Is Piet infinity?
Rumors of surveillance capitalism.
Latino shines through.
About that surveillance capitalism.
Helicopter from the floor, and a sense of closure.
The Strings exhibit at VMFA is devoted to the guitar. If you like guitars, guitar history, and historical curation you need to see this. We’ll ignore the fact that the most important strings are usually on a violin for now (LOL).
Romey and I learned about this exhibit by watching a video shot to promote and expand on the show with some live music featuring my friend Charles. Both Stephen and Charles are way better guitar players than I will ever be! Check out their session here.
Here are some pictures and commentary about the exhibit.
Charles as guitar.
In one of the rooms, there were a couple of guitars. So we just had to play them. They were squishy and hard to play.
The master goofs off.
Proof that I should stick to the violin.
Bill got into the act too.
Guitar versus violin. What turns you into a geezer faster? Guitar of course!
The dog is named Fay Ray. We knew another one of those once.
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Fond memories of a session? Charles in front of the recording studio.
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