The Arts in NYC Fall 2012

Being the procrastinator that I am, I somehow managed to not go out the entire week and ended up hoping to write my review on our visit to Greg Broom’s studio. But that obviously didn’t work out after the look of utter horror and denial I received from Professor Eversley when I revealed to her my intentions on writing about the studio visit from two weeks ago. Anyway, so finally I accepted the fact that the only solution to this gigantic problem of mine was to, well, go out and therefore during today’s club hours, I made my way to the Rubin’s Museum of Art.

For some reason, I have always deemed museums to be places covering vast areas and overwhelming with people and pieces of art. Rubin’s museum, however, was exactly contrary to what I had expected. It covered only a small space and the general ambience was that of some elegant classy restaurant rather than of a museum. The first floor had scanty pieces of art on display and instead a luxurious café and a bookshop covered most of the area. Bedazzled by the overall sophisticated and quaint atmosphere, I took the fancy staircase up to the second floor that displayed an exhibition of Tibetan art.

As I walked around looking at the sculptures of Buddha, there was one called the ‘Yellow Tara’ that I found quite intriguing. It portrayed a goddess, gracefully poised in a sitting position: With large earrings, glittering necklaces, headdress and bracelets, the goddess almost gained the attention of everyone that passed by her. However, it was not the extravagant ornaments that drew me to the sculpture, but the gesture of her hands proved to be the most captivating for me. Her left hand gesticulated an act of giving (varadamudra) whereas the right hand was positioned downwards with just the palm visible and the index finger and the thumb formed a sort of circle, which is the interpretation of intellectual discussion or flow of energy in Tibetan culture.

Another aspect that struck me about the museum was how the people there were truly engrossed in the paintings. As I walked around, looking at different sculptures I came across this woman who was deeply absorbed in gazing at one of the sculptures on exhibit. Seated directly in front of the statue, her eyes seemed to plunge deep inside the piece of art and she just gazed at it without even blinking. This made me think about the words that were imprinted on the entrance of the museum

“The emotion generated by viewing a great work of art is very much like falling in love. The passion radiating from the art overtakes us with its power and beauty. Its truly a heart connection”

In my life, I have seen many paintings that I instantly liked or ones that spoke to me but never have I experienced an instance where I just saw a piece of art and could not take my eyes off it. As I was researching for my presentation on Mark Rothko I came across one of his quotes similar to the one I read in the museum “The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions. The people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them”

I remember reading this and thinking how can someone break down by merely looking at a painting or a piece of art, but seeing this woman today made me realize that art definitely has the potential to truly touch a person’s heart and make him or her ponder on aspects of life that he or she may not have been able to do without the help of that piece of art.

I hope in near future, I too will be able to discover such a painting that truly speaks to me and I can stand for hours in front of it and not get tired of it.