Going to the MoMA for the first time was a really cool experience for me, because for the first time there was art displayed that I was a little bit perplexed by. For example, the exhibition that I completely blew my mind was Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938. As I read in the description, Rene Magritte was a surrealist, and wanted to challenge the real world. I think he does a really good job in doing so, because a lot of his paintings have obscene material, like nudity, which is brave of him for doing so in the early 20th century. I’m not even comfortable looking at nudity now, and its the 21st century already!

Take a look at this image. It surprises me. After seeing all those naked people in his drawings, all of a sudden, Magritte wants to hide the faces of these two lovers. He is trying to invoke a cinematic cliche of a close-up kiss, and he is attempting to capture the audiences attention by masking these two people. Now that the lovers are masked, the audience can have questions, and want to find answers to satisfy their curiosity: who are they? Are they embarrassed by the love they have for each other? Why do they have to the masks on? This is a painting of the year 1928, and the norms of that time were quite conservative compared to the norms for our society today. Magritte is challenging the norms of his society, and asking for people to unmask their love for each other and be more liberal. Otherwise, they’ll end up looking just as ridiculous as these two lovers.

In French, the message on this image translates to “This is not a pipe.” I, as the viewer of the image, disagree with that statement. So what the hell is it? But Magritte responds to my concern saying, ” Who could smoke the pipe from one of my paintings? Nobody. Hence, it is not a pipe.” Magritte says that people saying that this is a pipe is simple error and misuse of language. I thought this was an interesting analysis of his painting. Nobody would even think of such an explanation, so again, that’s another example of Magritte challenging social norms and ways of his time. I enjoyed this exhibition, more so reading the descriptions than looking at the nudity in most of the images, but I won’t deny the fact that the painting were indeed exceptional. See, I like people like Magritte: people that go out of their way to make a case and challenge want the society throws at them, and people who are open to think out of the box.

Our random visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art kind of caught me off guard on Election Day this year, but it was definitely a day to remember. Coming from a Japanese family and educational background, I never took the time to get to know Korea. Everything was all about either China or Japan, but I was really glad to have stepped into the exhibition. Growing up, the history teachers always brought up prosperous civilizations, like Babylon, the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Indus Valley, and so forth. But no, they never mentioned the amazing Korean civilization, Silla. The ancient Korean civilization of Silla was known for its gold, and thrived from (57 B.C. — A.D. 935). The exhibition, Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom, shows many of the artistic accomplishments of this small kingdom from A.D. 400–800. There are several splendid treasures and discoveries on display, including possessions of royalty and elite. These items were made in various places, as far as the Mediterranean and then back home to China.  I saw so many things that I liked, and I found two common themes amongst all the works that I visited. Obviously, gold was the major element used in all these works, but I kept coming across the great Buddha, a very important figure in Korea. I don’t really have a favorite, but I did find a few works fairly interesting. For example, the name of this thing is a chestlace (notice, not a necklace), and its made of gold, jade, and glass. Everything else is all gold mustard yellow, but the royal blue on this necklace really stood out to me. The green in the center is bangin’ gorgeous. I wonder how the people of that time used to wear these things.

I’ve been trying to draw a lion’s face accurately for the longest time ever, so when I got to this roof tile with a bestial face, I was stunned. No fair. People back then had less colors and knowledge about art, yet they still drew better than me. Wassup with that? Anyway, this roof tile is made of earth, and the museum calls it ‘Earthenware’. I think its gorgeous, although it many people might think its scary. Its got ancient skill to it, and thats all that matters.

Recently, our class went to the Pace Galleries, and I saw the coolest thing ever. The name of this piece of art is Football Face, by Irving Penn, and I thought this picture was attempting to degrade the notion of women putting on make-up. Every time I glance back at the photograph, I think about all the reasons women use cosmetics. Usually, the purpose behind using make-up is to cover up any unwanted marks or blemishes on the face. Perhaps this is a wrong-doing according to Penn, and maybe people should learn to appreciate and take note of what sets them apart from others. Here’s the problem: when people try to meet others, the first thing they’ll look at is each others faces. Therefore, if the face is not looking its best, its a problem.

People are so concerned about the way they look; its evident every time you open up the T.V. Loads of commercials pop-up about eyeliner, lipsticks, mascara, acne treatments, and much more. However, the issue that Penn was trying to point out is that when we use these products, its more or less us creating a mask on the face. Is that the way we are to meet each other, by throwing on a mask before we walk up to them? It happens so quickly and so often that not many of us realize it, but it is true. Women put on all types of skin products, and many try to alter their skin pigmentation. For example, women of darker complexions use facial creams with bleach to lighten their facial color, and others of pale complexions tan their skin to get darker. The problem is that women change themselves to become something that they’re not in order to please the public. At that point, they are deceiving the public.

So what happens when all that make-up comes off? The same thing that happens when  a person’s mask comes off: pure embarrassment. The meaning behind this photograph is extremely intense, and it might just be offending as well. Nonetheless, its inevitable: make-up doesn’t improve the way a person looks. It just makes the person look worse after it comes off.

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to remind everybody that NYC is a very cool place and there is a lot that we need to learn about our city. Its time to explore with the help of Macaulay! Im just really excited because I finally figured out how to work this blog, and hopefully I’ll post something more informative next time. Thanks for reading my post.