Tuesdays at the Art Institute of Chicago are free thanks to the Ford Foundation. So I trekked downtown to take it in, because, well, it is one of the must see's in the great city of Chicago.
The Art Institute of Chicago
Now, as the title of the post states, I have a tenuous relationship with art. First, I have just realized that art and museums aren't the same thing. Right, right (I'm having an epiphany as I write this) museums are locations dedicated to displaying whatever. Art is, well, art. Sometimes, museums don't necessarily display art. I got it. This makes it all better for me. I've always wondered why there are things in museums I'm totally uninterested in. Now I realize that those things I am uninterested in, isn't necessarily my dislike of art, it's just that stuff I'm not into. Oh, it makes so much sense now.
By the way, I only worked my way through the bottom two floors of the Art Institute on this day. I am saving the special exhibit on Seurat and the third floor for next Tuesday's visit. So the following are comments I wrote down as I walked through the museum. These are my impressions, thoughts, feelings, insecurities, contradictions......take them in whatever vein you want. You may NOT however, think of me as a freak.
"I like nature paintings especially ones that have exaggerated and perhaps unrealistic portrayals of sunlight"
"I like to see furniture as art, probably because I like the function of furniture" but I'll contradict myself right away by saying "I find the drawing and decorative stuff on plates, cups and the like totally boring". I guess I like shape and form, but I am not so interested in the decorative aspect. This makes sense in my lack of desire to decorate my own home.
"I find museums overwhelming because there is SO much to look at that I walk into a room and am overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I can't look just at one thing"
"I like Greek amphoras because I remember how cool I thought that was back in my Art History class in college. Since I had some reference and understanding of it, it came alive. But when I don't have that background, I can't give the displays context and so they aren't interesting to me."
"European Decorative Arts? BLLLEEECCHHHH!!! Who cares about the drawings and decorations on plates, vases, horses and most of all religious figures and icons. Jewelry and coins also fall into this category."
"Way too much religion. Buddhas, Egyptian gods, Jesus and all the Western people......"
"I was blown AWAY by a painting by a woman named La Jaune. It was acrylic lines (it truly looked like silly string) on a lime green background. It initially looked like one of those stupid modern day paintings where someone just threw paint at a canvas and called it art. But after 10 seconds of looking at it, what was revealed was that the "silly string" were pictures of women in poses taken from pornographic magazines. All of a sudden there was a deeper understanding for this piece. I guess this is what art is about. It's having the viewer see something beyond the initial response and seeing more."
The highlight though was seeing these two paintings in person
Woman and Child
American Gothic
I knew these two paintings from the childhood game Masterpiece. Now here I was standing right in front of them. So cool.
After the museum I went to eat at a place called Russian Tea Time.
Russian Tea Time Restaurant
I had borscht for the first time ever. The russian dumplings were good, but very similar to the boiled pot stickers my mom makes. The service was quite surly.
Now, as the title of the post states, I have a tenuous relationship with art. First, I have just realized that art and museums aren't the same thing. Right, right (I'm having an epiphany as I write this) museums are locations dedicated to displaying whatever. Art is, well, art. Sometimes, museums don't necessarily display art. I got it. This makes it all better for me. I've always wondered why there are things in museums I'm totally uninterested in. Now I realize that those things I am uninterested in, isn't necessarily my dislike of art, it's just that stuff I'm not into. Oh, it makes so much sense now.
By the way, I only worked my way through the bottom two floors of the Art Institute on this day. I am saving the special exhibit on Seurat and the third floor for next Tuesday's visit. So the following are comments I wrote down as I walked through the museum. These are my impressions, thoughts, feelings, insecurities, contradictions......take them in whatever vein you want. You may NOT however, think of me as a freak.
"I like nature paintings especially ones that have exaggerated and perhaps unrealistic portrayals of sunlight"
"I like to see furniture as art, probably because I like the function of furniture" but I'll contradict myself right away by saying "I find the drawing and decorative stuff on plates, cups and the like totally boring". I guess I like shape and form, but I am not so interested in the decorative aspect. This makes sense in my lack of desire to decorate my own home.
"I find museums overwhelming because there is SO much to look at that I walk into a room and am overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that I can't look just at one thing"
"I like Greek amphoras because I remember how cool I thought that was back in my Art History class in college. Since I had some reference and understanding of it, it came alive. But when I don't have that background, I can't give the displays context and so they aren't interesting to me."
"European Decorative Arts? BLLLEEECCHHHH!!! Who cares about the drawings and decorations on plates, vases, horses and most of all religious figures and icons. Jewelry and coins also fall into this category."
"Way too much religion. Buddhas, Egyptian gods, Jesus and all the Western people......"
"I was blown AWAY by a painting by a woman named La Jaune. It was acrylic lines (it truly looked like silly string) on a lime green background. It initially looked like one of those stupid modern day paintings where someone just threw paint at a canvas and called it art. But after 10 seconds of looking at it, what was revealed was that the "silly string" were pictures of women in poses taken from pornographic magazines. All of a sudden there was a deeper understanding for this piece. I guess this is what art is about. It's having the viewer see something beyond the initial response and seeing more."
The highlight though was seeing these two paintings in person
I knew these two paintings from the childhood game Masterpiece. Now here I was standing right in front of them. So cool.
After the museum I went to eat at a place called Russian Tea Time.
I had borscht for the first time ever. The russian dumplings were good, but very similar to the boiled pot stickers my mom makes. The service was quite surly.
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