Brooklyn Museum/Dinner Party Response

My first response to “The Dinner Party,” was confusion. Personally, I thought the work would feature all prominent women from all times, not just female artists. To be completely honest, however, I did not like the work as a whole. Although I recognize that featuring the female organs will elicit a strong response from the viewers, I believe that this was the artist’s intention. Feminist art is ultimately intended to shock and surprise and I feel like “The Dinner Party” did this well. I feel like the artist did this in an ironic, tongue-in-cheek way.

Apart from “The Dinner Party,” I really enjoyed Brooklyn Museum. By far, my favorite exhibit was the Period Rooms. To be able to see through a window to the past is extraordinary. I felt like I was in “The Age of Innocence” as a young socialite in New York. It is extraordinary that you can completely restore a room in the style of what it was like 100 years ago.

I also really enjoyed the great hall with all of the white structures. Architecture is not a medium of art that I know very much about, but I really liked the exhibit nonetheless. The use of space and the lighting really made the viewing experience better. The architecture seems very modern and the color of the structures brought to mind innocence and purity, something I think was intended by the artist.

Lastly, I was surprised at how I had never heard of how beautiful the Brooklyn Museum is. I feel like the museum flies off the radar and only by going to it can you see how extraordinary the exhibits are.