In Memoriam: Maya Angelou

Where: National Portrait Gallery

When: through June 12, 2014

I've noticed that when someone famous dies, the National Portrait Gallery will often display a portrait of them (assuming they have one, of course).  It's now Maya Angelou's turn in this melancholy spotlight.  Her portrait was painted by Ross Rossin.  When I went to see it, I thought it was a photograph, but when I went to copy the picture seen at left from the website, I noticed that the blurb said it was a painting.  Two of his other works (Henry Aaron and Morgan Freeman) are across the hallway; I thought they were all photos, but I'm assuming they're actually all paintings.  The realism is incredible; you would swear they were photographs.  They're all giant heads, much larger than life-size.  They're very impressive and imposing - not the sort of thing I'd hang in my home, but they work very well in a museum setting.

Maya Angelou was a multi-talented woman: she was a singer, a poet and a writer of memoirs.  The wall notes indicate that although her memoirs might not be strictly accurate, they were a "retelling of emotional truths."  I'm not sure at what point your liberties with actual events take you out of the realm of memoir and into the realm of fiction, but I'm guessing Angelou was well on the non-fiction side of the line.

Verdict:  It's a shame that it was only after her death that I saw this painting; I'll keep my eye out for more Rossin works in future.

American Heroes

Where: National Museum of American History

When: through June 2, 2014

Although over 110,000 Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II, more than 33,000 young Japanese-American men served in the U.S. armed forces during the conflict.  It's amazing to me that someone would risk one's life for a country that had imprisoned his family, but that's what these men did.

Japanese-Americans served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service. This Congressional Gold Medal was presented to them in 2010, 65 years after the war ended.  It is the highest civilian award in the United States.

Although I was glad that this medal was awarded, I couldn't help but think, "too little, too late."  By 2010, many of those men would have died.  I wondered, did each of them get a medal, or was this a group award?  I hope they each got one.

Verdict: If you're in the museum anyway, it will only take a few minutes to check this out.  I combined this with a look at Marian Anderson's outfit.

Red Bull Stratos: Mission to the Edge of Space

Where: Air and Space Museum

When: through June 26, 2014 (per Smithsonian exhibits page) through May 26, 2014 (per A&S page)

You may remember Felix Baumgartner and his trip through the sound barrier.  I thought at the time that he was a madman; that this was a ridiculous stunt and giving it TV coverage was just encouraging a crazy person.

Truth be told, I do still kind of think that you have to have a screw loose in order to free fall out of a space ship, but after seeing this display at A&S, I also see the purpose of doing it.

As the prospect of commercial space travel becomes more and more real, preparations for emergency evacuations are becoming more and more necessary.  After Baumgartner's trip, we know that human beings can survive supersonic speeds, even if they are not in a vehicle.  If you were traveling at the edge of space, you would have a way to get back to earth, even if your vehicle could not.

In addition, Baumgartner was wearing a large number of monitors, providing medical data to scientists which will doubtless be useful as space travel becomes more commonplace.

Verdict: Worth a look-see.  Both informative and exciting.  Be prepared for crowds, as with any Air and Space show.

Garry Winogrand

Where: National Gallery of Art

When: through June 8, 2014

Garry Winogrand was a photographer who captured the post World War II American world, the propserity of the 1950s, the tumult of the 1960s and the disintegration of the 1970s.  As the wall notes say, Winogrand documented a "country that glitters with possibility, but that threatens to spin out of control."  Starting with a few streets in Manhattan, Winogrand expanded his focus to other parts of America.  He moved from the glamorous world of 1950s downtown to the decay of 1970s urban sprawl.

In all of his photographs, you get the sense that there's more to the story than meets the eye.  If you took any of this pictures, showed them to 100 people and asked, "What's going on here?" you'd get 100 different answers.  Even the photos that appear obvious at first, reveal depth if you look a bit longer.  Although he worked as a photojournalist, I think Winogrand was the opposite of a journalist.  Rather than answer our questions, he prompts us to ask more.  He shows us there is a story, but he doesn't tell us what it is.  This is probably best exemplified by Aquarena Springs, San Marcos, Texas in which a woman is swimming with a pig.  Is this something that happens all the time in Texas?  Is it only my narrow experience that causes me to view this with surprise?  If this is out of the ordinary, what has led to this situation?  Would any pig go for a dip in the family pool, if only they were given the chance?

Winogrand's style reminded of no other photographer, really of no other artist.  The only time I thought of another show was looking at El Morocco, New York (1955) in which a man and woman are dancing in a nightclub.  The woman is laughing, with her teeth bared.  She looked almost vampiric, as if she's about to bite the man's neck.  I was reminded of the Munch show at the National Gallery (was it last year?) and the piece with the woman poised over the man.

There was a photograph that I had seen before and recognized right away.  It's called Albuquerque and features a small child in a driveway, with an overturned tricycle and an ominous skyline.  I had to do some digging online to figure it out, but it was in the "Democracy of Images" show at the American Art Museum, not long ago.  Kudos to me for remembering it!

I liked the first room, of his early New York work, the best.  I thought the photographs were the most interesting overall.  The ones from the 1970s were so depressing that after a while, I stopped seeing them as individual images.  They tended to blend together in one miserable whole.  Note that Winogrand stopped developing his pictures, as he became more interested in taking the photos, rather than working with them later.  Those from the 1970s have been developed by others - could that be why they don't appeal so much?
 
Verdict: If you like photography, or post-war American middle class life, this is a show not to be missed.  Allow plenty of time, as there are over 100 images.

Two library exhibits at the National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art has two spaces set aside for displays from its library, one in the West Building and one in the East Building.  Even though the East Building is at present closed for renovation, the library is still open.

Walking through the West Building allows the visitor to see some of the works usually displayed in the East Building, as they've relocated a few pieces here.  I must say, it reminded me of an apartment after a new roommate with wildly incompatible taste has moved in.  The East Building pieces feel crammed in and even if there were plenty of room, they just don't belong here.  I'd always rolled my eyes a bit at the East Building's design: so many jagged edges and so much wasted space.  Well, I take it all back.  A Calder mobile needs lots of white space to look like anything, and the West Building just doesn't cut it.  It's wonderful as a home for early American furniture, but not for cubism.  The East Building can't re-open soon enough.

But enough of this general grousing; on to the exhibits!  The first is in the West Building and is on architectural books.

Where: National Gallery of Art, West Building

When: through September 1, 2014

The Grega and Leo A. Daly Fund for Architectural Books allows the National Gallery to purchase books on architectural subjects (which I'm sure are extremely expensive) and this small display shows some of the items that the fund has enabled the Gallery to  purchase.  One of the main areas in which the Gallery collects is public architecture.  In this area, there is still some valuable information that exists only in printed form (imagine that!), so these books are quite useful to scholars, as well as being lovely for the casual visitor to examine.  I was happy to see several examples of Palladian architecture - I saw a show on Palladio at the National Building Museum a few years ago, and I've noticed his influence on many major structures ever since.

The second display is on marginalia and is in the East Building.

Where: National Gallery, East Building

When: through June 27, 2014

Marginalia is the name given to notes that book owners leave in their volumes, usually located in the margins.  These on display are not the jottings of an average person, however.  These books are made more valuable by these notes, usually because they belonged to famous people, or because the notes help to establish a book's provenance.  Marginalia, even that of ordinary people, transforms a mass printed book into a personal, unique object.  My favorite of the volumes on display is a copy of Livy's Roman History, complete with drawings of the action in the margins.  Think of it as an early graphic novel.

Verdict:  These displays are probably most interesting to book people, so if you're just as happy with an e-reader as the printed word, feel free to give these a miss.  If the book as artifact appeals, have a look at these shows, easily managed in a lunch hour.

Modern German Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection

Where: National Gallery of Art

When: through June 29, 2014

I'll confess right up front that I'm not a big fan of prints and drawings.  I prefer my art to be of the  paint on canvas variety, so I went with fairly low expectations to this show of German offerings.

In May 2012, the National Gallery received a large bequest from Ruth Cole Kainen: 781 works.  This was in addition to the many works she and her late husband had given the National Gallery previously.  I can't imagine owning so much art, let alone being in a position to be a major art gallery donor.  Many thanks to you, Mr. and Mrs. Kainen, for sharing your collection with the world.

This show focuses on German art from 1910 - 1930s, largely on expressionism.  Expressionism, in case you don't know (like me), rejected the idea of idealized beauty and concentrated on dynamic art that was a reflection of life and experience in the modern world.  The show proceeds chronologically, with early works in the first room.  Some by Carl Wilhelm Kolbe reminded me of Durer, with their precise depictions of nature.

Kainen's favorite artist was Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, so we see lots of him.  I found his early work to be rather scribbly, as if he'd doodled on a napkin and left it behind.  If I'm ever going to get over my disinterest in drawings, this is not the artist to help me do it.  I couldn't help but think, "Really?  This is your favorite artist?  Out of all of the artists who have ever worked; this guy is your favorite?"

I did like a work by Emil Nolde entitled "Hamburg Jetty."  When you look at it, you can almost feel the waves lapping at the pier.

There's yet more Kirchner further on in the show, and his later work is less scribbly and more Picasso-esque.  Several of his works would have been right at home in the Picasso drawing exhibit I saw here a couple of years ago.

Verdict: All in all, if you like German expressionism, I can recommend this show wholeheartedly.  Otherwise, there wasn't anything that really stood out for me.

My Love-Hate Relationship with the Hirshhorn

Long-time readers of this blog will know that I have issues with the Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian's museum dedicated to modern art.  From its ugly design (I call it the concrete doughnut) to its permanent collection of what my niece calls "silly art," my love-hate relationship with the Hirshhorn is light on the love and heavy on the hate.

An exception to my eye-rolling is the Hirshhorn's two series of videos.  They have one called Directions and one called Black Box.  I don't know the difference between them or how videos are chosen for one series or another, but I'm rarely disappointed with what I see.  The videos are weird, no question, but they are also intriguing or funny or thought-provoking in some way.

Recently, I've been to the Hirshhorn to see three things; two videos and one exhibit.  You can guess my thoughts on these, but I'm setting them down online anyway.

Gravity's Edge is the name of the exhibit I went to see.  It's on the lower level, so happily not one of the Bataan Death March shows you get on the second floor.  Despite the wall notes, I was unable to determine what this show had to do either with gravity or edges.  In fact, the wall notes were so confusing, I think I knew less once I'd finished reading them than I did to start.

The example you see above is by Lynda Benglis, and it's called "Corner Piece."  I would have called it "Spilled Paint," but that's just me.  There are some nice colors in some of this show's offerings, but I can't say they're really worth a trip to the Hirshhorn.

Verdict: You can safely skip this; there's nothing here that I'd run back to see.

On the other hand, there is something worth seeing on the Hirshhorn's lower level.  The latest installment in the Directions series is by Jeremy Deller and it's called "English Magic."  It's billed as being a commentary on quirky Englishness, and since Englishness is pretty quirky, there's plenty to comment on.  The background is a steel orchestra providing music, but the scene morphs to birds of prey, cars being crushed by huge machines (whose movements mimic those of the birds), an inflatable Stonehenge and a parade.

Verdict: It's bizarre, but it's fun.  Come for the music, stay for the inflatable Stonehenge - why don't I have one of those in my back yard...

As Monty Python used to say, "and now for something completely different."  "Los Encargados" which translates to "Those in Charge" is by Santiago Sierra and Jorge Galindo.  It's the latest in the Black Box series.  It's a video of several black Mercedes-Benz automobiles making their way down a busy street in Madrid.  Atop each car is a gigantic portrait of one of Spain's leaders.  Did I mention the portraits are upside-down?  I also noticed that the lettering in the shop windows you see as the cars pass is in mirror image.  Sometimes the video turns upside-down itself, so the portraits appear right-side up.  The music for this is a Polish workers' anthem from the early 1900s - frankly, it sounded like the theme song for the Politburo.

Verdict: Okay, it's odd, but it's clearly making a point.  I think if I knew more about recent Spanish political history, I would have gotten more out of it.  Still, it's worth a look.

One Life: Martin Luther King Jr.

Where: National Portrait Gallery

When: through June 1, 2014

I'm sure I've praised the Portrait Gallery's One Life series before, but I'm going to do it again.  It's a one-room show that focuses entirely on one person, prominent in American life.  I've seen shows on Thomas Paine, Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan, Katharine Graham and now, Martin Luther King.

Obviously, you can't have an in-depth display of someone in only one room, but they do an admirable job of covering the highlights of each person's life, from childhood through death.  It really is very well done, and I look forward to many more of these exhibits in the years to come.

There's very little that I can say about Martin Luther King that's terribly new or interesting, but I was struck while at the show by how easily the civil rights movement could have turned into a violent conflict.  Thanks to King, that didn't happen.  Surely, the temptation must have been great at times, but throughout, the protesters held the high ground, while those opposing them behaved in very low fashion.  King said that his inspiration for non-violence came from the Bible and the life of Jesus, but the execution of the civil rights movement came from Gandhi.

I was also struck by how young King was when he became such an important figure; he was only 28 at the time of the Montgomery bus boycott.  He wasn't even 40 when he was murdered.  He lived only a short time, but he made the most of the years he had.  A timely reflection for the beginning of a new year.  That's another point the exhibit makes: that King wasn't just a dreamer, making great speeches.  He was a doer, even in the face of defeats and the prospect of complete failure.

I saw a Boris Chaliapin TIME cover and a Yousuf Karsh portrait in the display - nicely tying into two others shows now at the Portrait Gallery.

Verdict: Well worth some time, and easily managed in a lunch hour.  This could be combined with the Meade Brothers display or the holiday cards show.

Meade Brothers: Pioneers in American Photography

Where: National Portrait Gallery

When: through June 1, 2014

A very happy 2014 to all reading this blog.  I hope the year brings you many good things, and many opportunities to see great museum exhibits.

I started the year off by going to the Portrait Gallery to see two small shows, the first of which is this survey of the work of the Meade Brothers.  The Meades were leading members of the first generation of American photographers.  Born in London, they set up their first photography studio in Albany, NY in 1842.  They garnered an international reputation by traveling to Europe to display their works and obtain further commissions. In 1850, they opened a gallery in New York City, where they attracted famous clients and won several awards for excellence.  They were so successful that they purchased a stone for the Washington Monument, when it was under construction.  When the renovations are complete and the monument is open again, I'm going to make a trip over there to see their stone.

Sadly, they had tragic ends: Charles, the younger brother, died of tuberculosis in 1858, when he was only in his 30s.  Henry, the older brother, carried on the business, with the help of their sister, Mary Ann, who became the director in 1862, but eventually, new technology caused the business to go into decline and he committed suicide in 1865.

Verdict: A small show in the low-light niche were they often display old photographs (I'm guessing due to concerns about damage from bright lighting).  Easily manageable in a lunch hour, and it's easy to combine this with either the One Life exhibit on Martin Luther King, or the Archives of American Art show on holiday cards.

Perspectives: Rina Banerjee

Where: Sackler Gallery

When: through June 8, 2014

The Sackler has a series of works of contemporary Asian art in its main entrance on the ground floor (which, since the museum is underground, is the top floor).  I usually have a glance at these works as I'm on my way to see other exhibits on the floors below.  Today, I stopped and had a real gander at the latest in the series, an interesting work by Rina Banerjee.

It's title is horrifically long, but begins "A World Lost..." so that's how I'm planning to think of it in future.  Banerjee was born in 1963, which means this year marked her 50th birthday.  As that milestone approaches in my own life, I'm starting to have thoughts about what I want to accomplish before I turn 50.  Although I would love to create a work of art (highly unlikely to occur, since I am once of the least artistically talented people I know), I don't think I could dream up anything even close to "A World Lost..."

To say it's an odd piece is a gross understatement.  Banerjee's work focuses on the movement of people from one place on the globe to another, starting with the increase of tourism in the 19th century to the massive migrations that happen today.  This particular piece is meant to represent rivers in India, where Banerjee is from.  It's terribly difficult to describe this piece, but it involves lots of shells, stones and coins spread on the floor, in what I suppose do look like rivers or streams.  What the plastic cups were meant to be, I can't fathom.

Verdict: Go ahead, have a look.  You're in the Sackler already to see something else, and you can get the gist of this pretty quickly.

Whales: From Bone to Book

Where: Natural History Museum

When: through June 15, 2014

On the Ground Floor of the Natural History Museum, quite close to the Constitution Avenue entrance (tip: much less crowded than the Mall entrance), are two large display cases that have exhibits in them.  I suspect, although I don't know for sure, that these are done by the staff in the Smithsonian library, as they often focus on books, or the history of the museum's collection.

I don't know that I've ever seen anyone else looking at these, so they remind me of the exhibits from the archives at American History.  Since they're right on the main corridor, they're not exactly quiet, but you won't have to stand cheek by jowl with 50 of your closest friends to see what's in the cases.

The current display is on whales - how the museum finds fossils, uses them to gain information about whales and then shares that information with other scientists by publishing, including in the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.  When one thinks of the Smithsonian, one thinks of the museums on the Mall, but there's a vast deal more going on in the organization than just what one can see on a casual visit.

The Smithsonian's collection of whale fossils is the best in the world.  They started collecting in the 1850s and continue to this day.  They collect from every ocean basin and continent in the world.  The size of the specimens makes them challenging to unearth and transport, as you can well imagine.  The Smithsonian Libraries have the most extensive collection of resources (not just books) on marine mammals, and some of them are on display here.  The exhibit features both very old items and pictures of scientists using the latest technology.  The whale drawings brought home the intersection of science and art, which I've noticed in other displays here and at the National Gallery of Art.

Verdict:  Have a glance at the big cases when you're in the museum - not sure it's really worth it for a separate visit.