After the Legion of Honor, we then headed over to the de Young Museum to see the Rudolf Nureyev exhibit. Both Douglas and I agreed that the costumes had a surprisingly gaudy and cheap appearance when examining them close up. We couldn't help but make a comparison to drag queens with all of the sequins, fake gems, and rhinestones.
We breezed through the exhibit "This World Is Not My Home: Photographs by Danny Lyon". Great photojournalistic style with my favorites being the biker gang photos and the prison series. Here a prisoner recuperates from heat exhaustion. The chunks of melting ice on his chest are especially beautiful.
At an even faster pace, we practically ran through "The William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism". Through the years, I continue to dislike late Modernism more and more, while growing fonder of Post Modernism and Post-Post Modernism.
While slowly strolling through the European paintings, I was drawn to this Impressionist-style landscape. I was especially transfixed by the treatment of the sky. The acrid green was completely hypnotizing and nourishing.
Homer Dodge Martin
Newport Neck, 1893
Oil on canvas
Newport Neck, 1893
Oil on canvas
Over the last 10 years or so, I have become obsessed with African Art. In particular, I love African power figures (nkisi, nikishi, minkisi; nkondi, minkondi, zinkondi) and also African boli from Mali. So, a visit to the de Young museum would not be complete without wandering through their excellent African Art section.
This first pic is one of my highest regarded pieces in the museum. I attribute this to my fascination for the accumulative process and excessiveness. I swoon for thick textures and unusual materials. I also have an affinity for ritual objects.
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