I had never been to the New York Hall of Science till last week. While I was walking into the Hall of Science, I was thinking how am I going to find art here? After all it is the Hall of Science, where little kids go to learn science while they are having fun. I was absolutely wrong. The Hall of Science has great deal of artworks. There are art galleries on the second level as well as many opportunities to create your own artwork. (more…)
Long before I actually visited the Guggenheim Museum, I had learned about its distinct architectural design. Unfortunately, I visited the Museum when the exterior was under restoration and covered by the scaffolding. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t have the entire view of the building, but the cylindrical shape was still discernable. Its rotunda structure stood out from the surrounding boxy buildings. Inside the Museum, I was impressed by the unique interior design, and was amazed as well as perplexed by the abstract paintings.
On my next adventure to discover art, I chose to learn what kind of art is around me. Unlike Medieval or Renaissance art, which has captions stating its significance, modern art is ungraspable. I asked myself, where could I find modern art? Where else than the Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA). During my trip to the MoMA, I was bewildered. I remember spending most of time looking at the artworks, trying to comprehend what is being displayed. The lack of understanding was simply dreadful to bear. Before stepping into the MoMa, I had the impression that modern art was easy to understand. I am living in a socially advance society, so art should be more coherent than artworks created centuries ago. I was wrong. (more…)
Suzan-Lori Parks’ “In The Blood” is a riveting play, ultimately concerned with the effects and existence of hypocrisy within human social systems. The questions posed are difficult and demand that we, the audience, examine the answers within ourselves as well as within the society as a whole. While “In The Blood” takes on the qualities of a sophisticated, truthful and certainly socially critical play, Mary Beth Easly, working together with the Brooklyn College Theatre Department, found the compelling nuances between a performance with great depth and yet a sense of genuine humor that keeps the audience engaged and entertained. (more…)
From September 28 to January 9, the Guggenheim Museum is showing an exhibit called Richard Prince Spiritual America. I went to see this exhibit over the Columbus Day weekend and found this artist’s work very interesting. Richard Prince’s career began when he moved to New York as a young man in 1977 and it has flourished ever since. Prince could be considered one of the post modern artists who have transformed the art world in the past 30 years by transforming what it is that the audience believes to be art. The style that is shown is provocative and thought provoking. The quality that made this exhibit at the Guggenheim unique was Prince’s style of appropriation in portraying everyday images and the jokes that he used as art in the exhibit. (more…)
As I looked through out the halls of the Museum of Natural History, I seemed possessed by the kid in me. Dinosaur bones, space shows, and giant planets all clouded my head with fascination. In one exhibit lay a piece of the largest meteorite to hit the US, while in another room a display showed the figures of animals that lived during the Ice Age like the Willy Mammoths and Saber tooth Tigers. Another room was dimly lit as it displayed precious stones from around the world including emeralds and diamonds. The evolution of man was easily outlined in another gallery; it talked of DNA replication and detailed the major organs of the heart with such precision. However as I kept exploring, I kept thinking that the stuff displayed here should be interactive, viewers should be able to touch and feel the artifacts they see. The touching would help make the artifact what it once was, a regular piece that populated the Earth. So I posed the question should scientific galleries let the viewer employ their five senses when viewing works? (more…)
When I was younger, I used to take ballet classes in this small red building located in Chinatown. Other than dancing, I didn’t know that there was anything else to this place. It wasn’t until when my mother decided to visit the director of the dance program that I discovered the hidden museum in the back. The Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA) was tucked away in a limited section of the second floor of the same building I have been dancing in for a few years. (more…)
When I was ten years old, I went with mother to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was an informative experience but, at such a young age, I could only say that it looked pretty. This past Friday, after about an eight-year hiatus, I returned to the Met. On this occasion, I was to view the art as a student rather than as a spectator.
In America, Halloween is seen as a day of mischief, fright, and fun. Children, teens, and adults alike take part in this scary tradition on October 31. We all have an urge to behave badly whether it be pulling silly pranks or dressing more provocatively than usual because we are free from ourselves under the guise of a costume. We are allowed to be someone else for a day, a welcome relief from our everyday lives. Most of all we associate Halloween with terror and fright (not to mention candy). The MF Gallery’s Fiftth Annual Halloween Art show on the Lowest East Side was an attempt to articulate the essence of Halloween through art. My visit to the Halloween Art Show was the quintessential Halloween experience: full of terror, and fun (unfortunately minus the candy). (more…)
If you are into all that is gory, freaky, and downright frightening, be sure to visit the annual Halloween art exhibition at the MF Gallery in the Lower East Side. As I entered the tiny shop, with its loud rock music blaring in the background, I realized that this was no ordinary store. Sure, there was a display case full of funky toys and a rack of stylish print T-shirts on sale, but what was most appealing was definitely the paintings, drawings, and figurines mounted on the walls. Admiring these creepy pieces was almost like taking an exciting tour around a museum, except this exhibition was certainly not suitable for children. (more…)