I visited the local art museum today. Yeah, so what? Well, I enjoyed it. What's unusual, or hopefully of some interest or pertinence to any who might read my infrequent journals, is that I enjoyed, very nearly, the entire experience (which is rare). Our local museum in this small, rural, midwestern town [it's called a city] is nothing grand. It boasts about two floors totaling about 6 rooms (or galleries) with a few essentially constant pieces (a handful of carved wood statues of the Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John, a few bronze works, a c.1800's display of furniture and panitings, and some watercolor paintings that NEVER leave, AND a gift store). Through the years there have been SOME interesting exhibits (sponsored by local businesses/patrons, etc). For example, recently [a few months back, when the weather was still nice and cool] there was an Anthony Quinn exhibit (No, not the late, GREAT actor himself, but some works that he'd collected and even several pieces by Quinn). We get some variety here, and more of the abstract than I like (I don't like abstract--at least I'm aware of my narrow-mindedness).
Today, however, the museum held much that I could appreciate. The current visiting exhibit is: The New Reality: The Frontier of Realism in the 21st Century. Artists, from all over, took older, sometimes classic works from past centuries which were realistic and mostly portraits and figures and either recreated them or made something similar but with juxtapositioning, creativity, irony, or "cinematic composition" [in an effort to avoid labeling as cliched or derivative]. Although I have some tendency to cling to the past, and hold originals in higher regard than new or changed-up things [Muscle cars are awesome!], I preferred most of the newer pieces of art to their older inspirations which were displayed. Most of the works on in this exhibit were done in oil on canvas. Vivid colors, fine details, great shading and such depth that some looked as if you could reach behind and pull off portions of them.
I saw nothing like a large canvas with yellow and red splats of paint resembling the footprints of a monkey who'd tracked through catsup and mustard. I hold realism/representationalism in high regard, and there was so much to appreciate! The brush strokes, the fine details ( the delicate eyebrow and highlights in the hair of a painting of a Japanese Kabuki (sp?) doll), shadows, glare and shine, textures, etc). Great depictions of light, glass, water, corroded metal and peeling paint, sand, shells, hair, and even the faint "fur" on a plant stem. What a fabulous and inspiring exhibit!