The art department at my University arranged for art students to go on a bus trip to the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York. I decided this would be a great opportunity to see both the artwork at the museum, as well as my friend who lives in Brooklyn, five minutes from the Brooklyn Museum.
We left Friday morning at 8am from the school and drove via coach bus, straight to the museum. After driving through crazy amounts of Manhattan traffic, we finally arrived around 12:30pm.
At this point, food was a necessity, so I was glad that they handed us a map upon arrival so that I could easily find my way to the museum's café.
Food was overpriced, as expected, but I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. They brew Starbucks coffee, which was exactly what I needed after waking up early and riding on a bus for four hours. I knew that I was going to be eating later with my friend, so I didn't want to get anything too heavy. I went with the broccoli cheddar soup. It didn't look great, but it sure was tasty.
At 1:30PM, we met the museum guide for a tour of the exhibition: Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.
Hide/Seek is the first major exhibit to focus on themes of gender and sexuality in modern American portraiture. Themes ranged from closet gay/lesbian works where the message is not as clear, to openly gay/lesbian, and even some that take on the effects of AIDS/HIV on the gay/lesbian community.
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| Félix González-Torres (American, 1957–1996). "Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991. Candies individually wrapped in multicolored cellophane, endless supply. Overall dimensions vary with installation, ideal weight: 175 lb. Courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York © The Félix González-Torres Foundation
This piece was one of the most interesting pieces and was simply a pile of candy. The artist wants viewers to eat the candy, but the artist wants you to invision that the pile of candy is like a person's body with AIDS, and while you eat pieces of the candy, it is like AIDS eating away at the person's body.
After spending a couple of hours in this wonderful museum, that I could have spent all day in, I met my friend in the park nearby to catch up on each other's lives. It was quite a beautiful retreat from the busy city.
Later, around 4, we decided to pop into a Thai Restaurant for dinner: Udom Thai. It was a fantastic meal. I really felt like they treated all of those dinning very well. The food and drinks were plated and presented tastefully, making me very excited to dig in. Not of course without first snapping a picture.
After dinner, we said adieu as I met back with the others for our long bus drive back home. All in all it was an exciting, event packed day, and I can't wait to visit Brooklyn, again! Does anyone have any Brooklyn adventures of their own they would like to share? |
