The Modern

I do not appreciate most modern art. I find it frustrating and confusing that different colored stripes stretching across a seven foot canvas is considered art and is worth thousands of dollars. I could do that. Give me a blank canvas and paint and I could throw up some circle, blotches, or lines. These are the types of paintings that annoy me. One of the exhibits was titled "Ed Ruscha: Road Tested." To me, it looked like a collection of a bunch of photos a guy took on a road trip. Walls were lined with framed pictures of different gas stations and hotels. Several maps with certain towns marked were scattered throughout the exhibit. How is this art? I just don't understand.

Okay, I just had to vent a little about the types of pieces I don't really respect. There were lots of paintings that I loved at the Modern. A collection from the Fort Worth Circle incorporated vivid colors that drew the eye. One particular painting, The Celebrity by Cynthia Brants, especially interested me. It was a collage of different forms, faces, shapes, and objects. The longer I looked at it the more I discovered. The next piece that caught my eye was the Passover by Dennis Blogg. At first glance it looked like an enlarged photograph of a desert landscape. When I got closer, however, I discovered that it was actually oil on canvas. There was so much detail in the foreground. The plants and desert land were painted in brighter, lighter colors. In contrast, the sky and mountains in the background were dark and ominous, as if foreshadowing an oncoming storm. I love stormy weather, especially right before the storm hits when all is quiet but the sky is dark. That's what I saw in this painting.

My absolute favorite was The Ark by Melissa Miller. It depicted a scene from the biblical story of Noah. Most representations of this familiar story show the animals as calm and orderly, filing into the ark without protest. What really drew me to this piece was its different take on the story. Instead of the animals paired side by side, many were separated. Not all the animals looked friendly. Wolves were threatening mice, lions were roaring at horses. Overall, the scene was somewhat chaotic. The background was a swirl of dark blues and oranges, black and reds. It suggested that there was a terrible storm raging, a torrential downpour flooding the land. The whole painting used vibrant colors, giving it life and captivating the viewer. It was huge, completed on two panels. I found it in a back hallways, separate from other pieces of art. I stood in front of it for probably 15 minutes taking it all in. "This is what art should be," I thought.

There was only one other artwork that captivated me, though not as much as The Ark. Aschenblum is a huge piece of art that took up almost an entire wall. It took the artist, Anselm Kiefer, 14 years to complete. At first I thought it was covered in bark because of its rough texture. Maybe it's a tree? But upon further inspection I can see walls, a tiled ceiling, and a floor. After reading the information plate next to it I discover I am right. It is an interpretation of the Mosaic Room in Reich Chancellory, Berlin. The artist painted the empty room, then covered it with ash, clay, and earth. The piece was Kiefer's way of coming to terms with his German heritage. It incorporated Nazi imagery and symbolism. For Kiefer, it represented the processes of transformation. It was huge, grandiose, and personal.

Walking around and reading the information plates, I discovered that many of the artists were inspired by and borrowed from other Modernist thinkers. This reminded me of the section in Modernism: A Very Short Introduction that went into detail about Modernists using each other in their work. It helped answer my question, how do they come up with some of these confusing and seemingly meaningless images to convey their thoughts and feelings? I learned that inspiration not only comes from others, but from personal experiences as well. Ben Shahn wanted to create a piece "centered on disaster and evil overwhelming the helpless and innocent." He painted Allegory in 1948, depicting a large red lion with a fiery mane standing over four small sleeping children. The background was blue with no distinct shape. Apparently, Shahn had a couple bad experiences with fires and read about four children being killed by some natural disaster. The painting made much more sense after knowing what the painter had experienced.

One exhibit I really enjoyed was Focus: Robert Lazzarini. His sculptures played with dimensions creating eye tricks that really made you focus. He warped the shape of revolvers, safes, and brass knuckles so that they looked like they had been flattened at odd angles. Walking around the sculptures, you could see that they really weren't flat, but 3-dimensional. It was quite the illusion.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip to the Modern Art Museum. There were pieces I hated and pieces I loved. I discovered that I am drawn to artwork that is more realistic, like landscapes or animals. I'm not a real fan of random shapes on a canvas. To each his own.