Walking to the Guggenheim, to be brutally honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I’ve never been much of an art person, or a museum person for that matter, and so I didn’t have the highest expectations. I was heading up 5th Avenue wondering if I would know which building it was when I saw it, and then this huge, white bee hive like structure appears, with my classmates waiting out front; that answered that. As we were waiting outside, I wasn’t paying much attention to the building, but kind of just spacing out and waiting for the signal to go inside. Upon entering the museum, I wasn’t yet struck with the magnificence of the structure; sure, the lobby seemed clean and spacious, but I still didn’t pay too much attention to the layout of all the exhibits.
After meeting our tour guide, Phillip, and seeing his exuberance and passion for the Guggenheim, I became more excited to see what the museum had in store. We started with Kandinsky, who was a creator of quintessential modern art, and the painting we started with is exactly what one might think of when hearing the phrase “modern art”. Our tour guide mentioned that many people dismiss Kandinsky and his art saying that it takes no skill to make, and even non-artists are capable of creating it. Admittedly, I’ve thought that kind of sentiment myself. But Phillip had a perspective that I haven’t heard before; he said that it may be true that the average person would have the skill to make that, the difference is that they don’t.
After talking by that first piece of art for a while, we start making our way up, stopping by some other paintings on the way. At this point I finally see exactly how the museum is laid out-it’s just one big unwound slinky of continuous art, all the way up to the top. Not shockingly, this is a not a layout I’ve ever seen before, whether in a museum or otherwise. I thought it was so cool that someone could walk the entire length of the museum and see all the exhibits without ever stopping, turning, or even moving through different rooms.
The work of art that had the most effect on me was “Woman Ironing” by Pablo Picasso. I just felt like it conveyed so much emotion, even though it is basically all grey. The woman’s posture, her facial expression, and how her eyes were shaded over all told me details of this woman’s life, and made it feel as though she were a real, dynamic person.
After the tour ended, I continued to walk around the museum myself, to see the rest of the art. But again, the architecture of the building that housed the art seemed to strike me more than the art itself (the art was cool too though). I think overall, visiting the Guggenheim was a great experience; individually I found meaning in the architecture, and with the help of our tour guide Phillip, I found meaning in the art too.
