I am very fortunate to get the opportunity to spend some quality time in Washington, D.C. a couple times a year. I get the chance to see what I want — but no trip is complete for me without visiting the National Gallery of Art, The Hirshhorn Museum and now, after visiting for the first time last year, the National Portrait Gallery. All three museums were featuring some absolutely incredible exhibitions, making this one of my favorite trips in the process.
I have a love/hate relationship with the Hirshhorn – there have been times when I just get nothing out of a visit, and others when everything is magical. This year’s trip was the latter. I loved their exhibition entitled Suprasensoriall: Experiments in Light, Color and Space. I especially loved this installation entitled Blue Penetrable BBL by Jesus Rafael Soto – watching people walk through it was just a lot of fun!
Three and One is another piece by Soto – and it’s difficult to truly see what this one did, visually, in a picture. Let’s just say there was a little bit of an optical illusion going on when viewing it…
Ron Mueck’s piece Untitled (Big Man) transfixed me. Honestly, it’s just disturbing on many levels, yet it’s so well done that it’s extremely difficult to look away. The details that Mueck was able to convey in this piece were just flat out incredible. Incidentally, this piece (as well as the next) were in the lower level at Hirshhorn, a level that was dedicated simply to “Darkness.”
Jeroen Eisinga’s piece, which included being covered by over 250,000 bees was a difficult one to get photos of, so I’ve included two videos below. It was a 19 minute looped video that just showed Eisinga being completely engulfed by the bees. With no sound whatsoever, this just took on a horrific vibe for me.
The National Gallery of Art is one of our country’s greatest treasures, in this guy’s opinion – and walking in to the East Building to see the Alexander Calder mobile is like driving through the Fort Pitt Tunnel to see the city of Pittsburgh for the first time – both are simply exceptional.
I’ve also always loved this piece by Byron Kim entitled Synecdoche. Kim’s look at different skin tones as found in the town is just fascinating to me. Good, good stuff!
I closed the day out with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, another spot that hits you immediately with the following piece located right outside the main entrance:
Nam June Paik’s piece entitled Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii is another piece that just catches your attention and doesn’t let go. (And if you go, make sure you check out the television they have set up in the District of Columbia!
I didn’t catch the artist’s name who created this piece and I’m certainly disappointed in that. Much like the earlier piece by Ron Mueck, this one just haunted me as well. I can’t even begin to explain how lifelike and how well done this sculpture is. Honestly, I kept expecting to see it come to life!
I also loved this sculpture of Casey Stengel – Rhoda Sherbell absolutely nailed his likeness in this piece.
And while I love to walk around, finding something new in every visit, I also LOVE to just take in those who are enjoying themselves as well. I love to see children being introduced to the museums and the artwork. I love to see somebody completely enraptured in a piece – even if it’s something that does nothing for me. I love seeing people making these museums theirs, just as I had the please of doing as well.
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