NYC Museums | i-tees

On Friday, April 9th, I spent the day at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York City. I bought a ticket in advance so I could see the Tim Burton exhibition, which I had been waiting for anxiously. I have been a huge fan of his work for a very long time and I was going to see drawings, paintings, cartoons, models, costumes, figures, and video of course. There were no photographs allowed at his exhibition, so you’ll only be able to see the entryway photos and various other shots from various exhibitions and the outdoor garden.

The day started with a fascinating show on the 2nd floor of William Kentridge’s Five Themes: Ubu and the Procession, Soho and Felix, Artist in the Studio, The Magic Flute and The Nose. Kentridge is an artist who tells stories about the world around him and his art is inspired by his birthplace of Johannesburg, South Africa. He uses the mediums of printmaking, drawing, cut paper and film and I watched various films of the artists working, his animated stories of people in various situations and his pictures using black paper cutouts glued to textual paper.

Also on the 2nd floor was a live show. A woman dressed all in red sat at a table and stared ahead… anyone from the audience could come sit quietly opposite her and stare back. Once the visitor was tired or wanted to move on, someone else from the audience would take his or her place. It was quite interesting to watch the stare down and the audiences reaction as they walked by wondering what the ?@*? is going on? There were hundreds of people around watching and the museum was filming the event.

Upstairs to the 4th and 5th floors to walk around leisurely and visit with some my favorite artists. Impressionists, Modern Art, ahhhh… Monet, Matisse, Van Gogh, Picasso… a trip to a museum wouldn’t be complete without seeing some of this.

After a bite at one of the cafes I went down the main floor again and out to sculpture garden to relax, listen to some music (my ipod) and photograph a few interesting spots.

Finally, my allotted entry time for the Tim Burton exhibit. I was so excited! Upstairs I went and as I walked in, I’m immediately blown away. All I can say is the event was everything I’d hoped for and more. Seeing his early drawings and paintings and the progression as his career took off, we were able to see his craft being fine tuned. His wackiness and sense of humor were present from the beginning and his style and imagination exploded into the amazing, wonderful art and films he’s doing now. Some of what was displayed, a full-size Edward Scissorhands, two severed heads in a case (yikes!), costumes from Batman, blades from Sweeney Todd, some early animated cartoons, miniature models of his well known characters and more. I was so thrilled and wound around and around, going back to certain spots to see things again and again. I bought a book before leaving the museum but if there’s a more extensive one, I’ll be getting that also.

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A splendid afternoon and now have a look at my photo gallery.

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, since I’m not the type to race with others to the stores, my family and I headed to the American Museum of Natural History. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon. It was quite crowded as we walked in, which is how we expected it to be, but as the exhibits vary, so did the crowds and we moved from one floor to another.

I had been to the Museum recently, with my partner on the blog, Frogs Are Green, because they have an exhibit, Frogs: A Chorus of Colors, which would only be there until January, 2010, and I wanted my family to see it. This time, I brought my camera, and you’ll see in the gallery I’ve posted, I got some great shots!

While at the museum we each picked out from the multi-level floor plan, areas we wanted to see, and mapped our way around. Some of the halls visited were, Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, which is one of my favorite halls. There is a huge, dramatic whale suspended from the ceiling, and different dioramas depicting sea life in action, like a wonderful one where we see dolphins in a curve, some below and some above the water line. We also visited, North American Mammals, Hall of Biodiversity, Ross Hall of Meterorites (where you’re able to touch the largest section of a meteorite, which broke apart as it hit the Earth), Guggenheim Hall of Minerals (where you can see some really huge, I mean huge gems), Stout Hall of Asian Peoples and of course one of the biggest attractions, up on the 4th floor, the Ornithischian and Saurischian Dinosaurs. I’m not sure why, but whenever I enter this room, I always get chills. I’m not sure if it’s a reaction to how fascinating they are, or if the temperature is colder up there.

We walked around and around, and after about 4 hours, we were beat. We had only seen a small portion of what this museum has, and because the exhibits change frequently, there’s always a reason to go back. Next time, The Silk Road which is at the Museum through August 2010!