Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

Field Trip #1


             My visit at the Museum Of Modern Art and also at the PS1 Exhibit was so exciting . I was able to see plenty  of  works of art . Some of them were breathless . The main parts of the museum  that I visited were the Contemporary Galleries between 1980 and Now from 2nd floor , Inventing Abstraction from the 6th floor and the most important and the one I liked so much was the Painting & Sculpture part from 5th floor . Also the MOMA PS1 exhibit from Queens was interesting . Every piece of art was different in its own way and made me see what the artist really wanted to say through his piece .

             First of all , paintings are my favorite type of art . I have my favorite artists like Picasso , Van Gogh and Rembrandt van Rijn . My choice of a work of art that embodies individual identity is Picasso’s painting “Bather” from MOMA . The medium used is oil on canvas and was painted in 1908-09 . In the painting we have a nude female after the bath . The background is simplified in 3 colors . I consider this individual identity because shows personal characteristics of somebody . I this case was about Picasso’s subject that is a nude female .  The painting present in the same time different views how is also said in the painting information , “ The bather’s body is broken into discrete parts : her breasts , stomach , and shoulders are hardened into geometric arcs and curves , and her right foot twists unnaturally “ .
           For historical identity I found another painting . I chose “Departure” by Max Beckmann  from MOMA as well . The medium used is oil on canvas and is also a triptych , a three part format . The painting show a king on his departure in the middle piece and on the side are images of sin and salvation . Initially , the german artist said that is no explanation for the painting , but after , “ became to be seen as one of the emblematic artistic responses to Hitler’s Germany “ .  The detail and what was going on back then in Germany gives this painting a powerful historical identity .

          However , for the cultural identity I didn’t choose a painting . I looked for something that represents my culture and I found a great work of art : “ Iconostasis “ by Sammlung Ludwig at MOMA PS1 . The artist used mixed media . There are practically icons on a wall . Traditionally this wall is used in Eastern Christian church to separate the public from its sanctuary . This work of art moved me from the second I stepped in the room . I am an orthodox and my church has this . Living far from home , in a country that doesn’t have that much of your culture , to see I piece of art that warms you little bit is priceless . This piece was finished in two years and the result is fabulous .

         These two trips were useful for my knowledge and for the little artist inside me . New ideas of creativity kicked in . However  , these three examples of identity are just a small part of plenty other pieces of art that soon il will discover  thanks to my art professor . 


Personal Identity                Historical Identity              Cultural Identity 

Pablo Picasso                    Max Beckmann              Sammlung Ludwig

" Bather "                            " Departure "                     "Iconostasis"

Oil on canvas            Oil on canvas , three panels        Mixed media

1908-1909              Frankfurt-1932;Berlin 1933-34         1977-78










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