What Kates do for lunch
"It is through living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us." - Henri Cartier-Bresson
I'm so very sorry I ran out of time to post this on Fri, as I imagine maybe someone would've had time to go see the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at MoMA over the weekend and it closes on June 28th. It is the best art exhibit I've ever seen. I've been going to art museums in NYC and all over the world for 25 years and I've never seen one that did a better job of showcasing great art in a way that gives context and understanding.
It helps that HCB makes the exact sort of art I like: one of the panels at the entrance to the exhibit describes his work as "celebrating action by freezing it, and turning the world into elegant patterns." I love art that shows the whole story: you may not have enough context to understand everything that is going on, but the shapes and patterns feel compelling and you don't have to guess at why he took the picture. I guess if you're a photojournalist, there's only so abstract you can get. HCB also lived at a very interesting time - his photos go from the 1930s to the 70s - and he traveled to interesting places, taking pictures of intellectuals in western Europe, communism in China and Russia, and the untouched life in Asia.
Even when he and I disagreed in our view of the subject, HCB had something interesting to say. The exhibit notes, "For him modernity arrived in the 1950s, with the triumph of consumption of and leisure, and his later pictures fluently describe its vulgar depredations, messy accumulations, and sprawling hedonism." Which for me as a student of world patterns is such a bizarre view - part of what's great about the Gallery of Regretable Food et al. is remembering how exciting the hope and promise of materialism was for everyone.
My only complaint about the exhibit was that the selection of portraits wasn't as interesting as the last HCB exhibit I went to at ICP. However, the audio guide explained that part of his schtick was including an interesting gesture in each portrait, preferably an iconic one, to make it more interesting. I hadn't noticed that before and it's particularly fascinating when compared to 17th and 18th century portraits, where it's the trappings that are used to give individuality.
Speaking of the audio guide, it's free and the exhibit itself takes about an hour even if you read every panel and listen to most of the audio. I went over a lunch hour and am so very glad I did: I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I'm so very sorry I ran out of time to post this on Fri, as I imagine maybe someone would've had time to go see the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at MoMA over the weekend and it closes on June 28th. It is the best art exhibit I've ever seen. I've been going to art museums in NYC and all over the world for 25 years and I've never seen one that did a better job of showcasing great art in a way that gives context and understanding.
It helps that HCB makes the exact sort of art I like: one of the panels at the entrance to the exhibit describes his work as "celebrating action by freezing it, and turning the world into elegant patterns." I love art that shows the whole story: you may not have enough context to understand everything that is going on, but the shapes and patterns feel compelling and you don't have to guess at why he took the picture. I guess if you're a photojournalist, there's only so abstract you can get. HCB also lived at a very interesting time - his photos go from the 1930s to the 70s - and he traveled to interesting places, taking pictures of intellectuals in western Europe, communism in China and Russia, and the untouched life in Asia.
Even when he and I disagreed in our view of the subject, HCB had something interesting to say. The exhibit notes, "For him modernity arrived in the 1950s, with the triumph of consumption of and leisure, and his later pictures fluently describe its vulgar depredations, messy accumulations, and sprawling hedonism." Which for me as a student of world patterns is such a bizarre view - part of what's great about the Gallery of Regretable Food et al. is remembering how exciting the hope and promise of materialism was for everyone.
My only complaint about the exhibit was that the selection of portraits wasn't as interesting as the last HCB exhibit I went to at ICP. However, the audio guide explained that part of his schtick was including an interesting gesture in each portrait, preferably an iconic one, to make it more interesting. I hadn't noticed that before and it's particularly fascinating when compared to 17th and 18th century portraits, where it's the trappings that are used to give individuality.
Speaking of the audio guide, it's free and the exhibit itself takes about an hour even if you read every panel and listen to most of the audio. I went over a lunch hour and am so very glad I did: I cannot recommend it highly enough.