Wednesday, June 13, 2007

night At the Met

Days of fog blowing in from the Atlantic white shifting shapes around the skyline , Empire State
We can still hear the helicopters passing by during the day into evening hours
Rain has been intense at times
we had waves of thunderstorms sky broken by lightning

In the evening up to Museum Mile
The Cooper Hewitt's guards had their hands full as the uncomfortably crowded marched through the Design Now show,
would like to go back at another time
Outside in a big tent everyone was making the most of the latest downpour drinking , playing waiting it out
Next we went on downtown looking to go in but the lines to see Van Gogh and Klimt at the Neue Gallerie were too long ,
then the same at the Guggenheim ...
The street was blocked off and everyone was out , dodging the rain , drawing on the street into the night

Another trip to the Met and more great things this time
the new Greek & Roman Galleries stunning clean space full of well lit sculpted marbles ,
Europe and the Islamic World ,
One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement was cool
Paintings by Turner, Courbet, Seurat's Circus Sideshow, Klimt, Arp, Ernst, de Chirico, Dali, Dix, Georgia O'Keefe
Miro, Motherwell and many others.
Elsewhere in the halls nicely lit Dogon ritual vessels appeared as if floating free in lit spaces,
Mali figures, Mala and Yoruba figurines, carved wood pieces, intricate metalwork on a slender but lethal looking spear
a lidded saltcellar from Portugal
A great Munch painting of woman's red hair flowing to cover a man's head ...

Finally we found our way to Neo Rauch at the Met up on the mezzanine.
The text made me laugh (in an ok way) , the art itself seri comic and dry , a touch of D Lynch flavor ?
and the big show feels like a hit for the Leipziger