Riding the Coattails of the Musical

Where: Postal Museum

When: closing March 3, 2019

When I go to the Postal Museum, it's a long enough trip that I try to see more than one exhibit.  In addition to the John Lennon stamp album, I was able to see this show about Alexander Hamilton and the mail.

There are letters to and from Hamilton and stamps depicting him.  The Post Office started as a part of the Treasury Department (new fun fact!), much to the chagrin of Thomas Jefferson.  Hamilton and his regard for a powerful central government fell out of favor after his untimely death, but the Civil War revived his reputation, as the idea of the U.S. as a small agrarian country gave way to a larger, more industrial nation.

My only complaint with this show is that the pistols used in the duel between Aaron Burr and Hamilton were on display when the show opened, but only until mid-September.  If I had known I could have seen these artifacts, I would have gone sooner!  Clearly, I need to read the descriptions of exhibitions at the Smithsonian website more carefully, but shouldn't this sort of information be displayed more prominently?  I'm pretty sure this would have been a major draw to a museum that I've never seen crowded.

Verdict: If you like Hamilton, or are interested in early American history generally, check this out.  Without the pistols, I can't say this is of general interest.

This is Not the White Album

Where: Postal Museum

When: closing February 3, 2019

If you're a fan of John Lennon, I hope you were able to see his boyhood stamp album at the Postal Museum.  A cousin of his interested him in stamps and gave him this little green book.  Lennon became an enthusiast and traded stamps back and forth to improve his collection.  The album contains over 550 stamps, including many from New Zealand where some relatives lived.

The display was timed to coincide with the release of the John Lennon stamp, which came out last fall.  I think the USPS is hoping that young people will think anything Lennon did was "cool" and take up stamp collecting themselves, but I have my doubts.

Verdict: If you love the Beatles, have a look.

Something Great at the Hirshhorn

Where: Hirshhorn Museum

When: closing April 28, 2019

It's possible I've posted two laudatory Hirshhorn write-ups back to back before, but I'm going to guess this is the first time ever.  As long-time readers know, I usually can't say enough bad things about the brutalist nightmare that is the Smithsonian's collection of modern art, but I'm telling you, they've got themselves something great on now, and you need to run right out and see it.

It's called "Pulse," and the artist is Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.  He sets up installations that are powered by the pulse (hence the name) of you, the viewer.  You put your finger or your palm on a little gizmo (technical term), and lights flicker or water moves in time to your heartbeat.  I could discuss the interplay of art and technology, or I could place Lozano-Hemmer in a long line of artists who have used the human heart in their work, but I'm willing to bet someone else will do that.

What I'm going to tell you is to go to this show because it's fun.  This show is literally what you make it.  The final room has not only flickering lights but a "soundtrack" of heartbeats - I was transported back to a childhood trip to the Franklin Institute, walking through their model of the human heart.

Verdict: In all of the chaos that is DC at this moment, sometimes, you just need to have a good time.  If you have a heartbeat, this show is for you. 

A Hirshhorn Show I Didn't Hate!

Where: Hirshhorn Museum

When: closing February 3, 2019

Every so often, I go to see a show thinking, "I'm not going to like this."  Many times, especially when I'm headed to the Hirshhorn, my thought is correct!  Ugliness abounds at the concrete donut, as we know.  Sometimes though, my thought is not correct, and I'm pleasantly surprised.  This post is about one of those times.

Although I'd never heard of Sean Scully before, the wall notes tell me that he is one of the most influential painters of our age and at the center of abstract painting.  Shows how much I know.

The works on display here are bars of color, meant to represent the horizon over water - the landline of the show's title.  Ordinarily, anything smacking of monochromes or blocks of solid color gets the big eye-roll from me, but these I liked.  Many of the works are oil on aluminum, which lends them a bit of a sheen that appealed to me.  There are also oils on copper, which have a red hue to them.  There was one with shades of blue that I particularly liked; I'll even go so far as to say I'd put it in my house!

Verdict: This show will have closed by the time this posts, so I hope you were able to see it!

Medical Care is One of Those Things That Keeps Getting Better

Where: American History Museum

When: closing February 3, 2019

When I think of the great march of human history, three things seem to get better and better as we move along: transportation, communication and medicine.  This small display in one of the cabinets of the American History Museum shows what medical care was like during World War I, and how the conflict provided an opportunity to test out new advances.

Granted, there were certainly major strides made during the war in the treatment of injuries and the development of prosthetics, but I'm really glad I'm living now and not then.  Of course, someone 100 years from now will think the same thing about the early 21st century, so there's that to consider.

This display also highlights the work of female medical workers in the war, and how they were not considered "real" veterans - something I had learned about at the Postal Museum's show on their work.  Considering the horrible conditions these women endured to provide medical care to soldiers, it's ludicrous that they were so often denied recognition.

Verdict: Another interesting little display to see if you're at the museum.

You Can Use Advertising for Anything

Where: American History Museum

When: closing February 6, 2019

The American History Museum has large glass-fronted cabinets in the middle of the first floor, as you enter the building from Constitution Avenue.  They contain small displays of objects that change from time to time.  I think of them as giving you a "flavor" of the museum.  Right now, the Smithsonian is winding up its shows on World War I, which ended 100 years ago last November.  "Advertising War" tells the story of how Americans, who had a strongly hands-off view of the European conflict, were convinced to enter WWI.

Propaganda learned from commercial advertising - you play on people's emotions and tell them what to do.  Works for soap; works for war.  Enemies were depicted as dark and ape-like, preying on vulnerable light-skinned women.  Interestingly enough, women were also depicted as strong workers who could contribute to the war effort.  So they could take over the farm, but had to be protected from danger.  Who says advertising has to be consistent?

Verdict: Give this a glance if you're at American History in the next few days - we can all use a reminder to turn a skeptical eye towards those who want to sell us something. 

And...We're Back!

Where: American History Museum

When:  closing March 5, 2019

So, as I type this, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is over, and the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art are open.  I went to see nine shows in four days, as the possibility exists that we could be right back in the soup by mid-February.  So frustrating!  I really hope the government stays open, because when there's a shutdown, innocent people suffer.  Plus, it actually costs us more money to close the government than to keep it open.  I'm really fuming over this, as you, dear reader, can doubtless tell.

But, while I have the largest museum complex in the world (and the National Gallery) available to me, I intend to make the most of them.  I've seen everything currently closing in February and am making headway into March.  If, in the next two weeks, I can get to all the shows closing before June, I'll feel pretty comfortable.  Will I be able to do it?  Stay tuned friends!

My first stop on my "welcome back tour" was American History.  My favorite museum when I was a child on class trips, I still love this place, as much for its small tucked away shows as for its "big ticket" displays.  I went to the Small Documents Gallery (which is named after the Smalls, who I'm assuming are donors, not for its size) to see a show on the Japanese internment camps.  An excellent display on a serious topic, the exhibit started by explaining the anti-Asian prejudice that has existed in America since at least the late 1800s.  Frankly, I was reminded of the current climate, as I read about fears of a "yellow horde" taking over the country.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, that fear turned into hysteria, and off went over 100,000 people to internment camps, losing their homes, their businesses and most of their possessions.  Even Dr. Seuss, who I had always thought of as a person urging tolerance, drew an anti-Japanese cartoon - shameful.

Amazingly enough, there were many young people of Japanese descent who served in the U.S. armed forces during the war, despite the fact that the families they left behind were incarcerated.  Being forced to live in primitive conditions was difficult, and it is a testament to the resilience of the Japanese-Americans in this situation that they created the art they did, formed the schools they did and fought for their rights after their release as they did.

Because the display doesn't end with the war.  It goes on to show the work that was done afterwards to get the government to acknowledge the wrong that was done.  President Ford rescinded Executive Order 9066, which created the internment camps; President Carter established a commission to issue a report on what should be done about the incarceration, and President Reagan signed a law admitting the wrong and issuing reparations to survivors.  A dear friend of mine who was born in an internment camp received one of those checks.

Verdict: Really fine display of a story that needs telling, especially when certain groups are demonized as scapegoats for our nation's problems.