The arts

After taking more than my fair share of pictures of the Quadracci, we looked around at the rest of the Milwaukee Art Museum. As I said in the previous post, this was my first time going to the MAM. Cynthia and the boys had gone before, and like almost everyone I know, they didn't care for it a great deal. But I still wanted to go and the trip became the chief goal of our staycation. Still, after hearing several less-than-stellar reviews, I wasn't expecting much.

This is a large blown glass piece near the front entrance of the museum. Carter was quite smitten by it and requested that I take the following picture:

Normally the art museum has family days every Sunday. Part of the family day is a craft project for the kiddies. As this was spring break, the museum decided to do the crafts throughout the week. Yesterday's project? A 'replica' of the blow glass sculpture that Carter enjoyed so much. That sure worked out well, didn't it?

I've always been fascinated by Roman history and art. The MAM's collection wasn't extensive in this area, but I did like what they had for the classics.

All three of these were very enjoyable paintings.

This was probably my favorite piece in the galleries. And not because I'm a Beatles fan. This painting is so simplistic that it would make an excellent silkscreen for a $5 t-shirt. Only the color black in bold pools without any shadings. Yet the second I saw it from across the room, music was playing through my head; I started tapping my foot a little to it. Anyone with a pulse can tell you what this is and who is missing from the scene. It's difficult to name a simpler painting. And yet, it was so evocative of our culture and of my memories. I could imagine in my mind's eye 'the photograph' that this painting came from...but I'm not even sure if it's from a photo or if my imagination just invented the photo. Very stirring how splotches of a single color can do all of this to me.

Getting creative with the boys. I should have played with the f-stops a bit more an the pic with Carter (blurred the extreme right more), but I'm still pleased with the results.

Some paintings made for beautiful backgrounds. I often felt that the sense of art in the museum was more on how I viewed the images than what was actually presented.

These two 'walk-in' exhibits were fabulous. The top one is Matrix XV and the bottom one is the Infinity Chamber. Just beautiful. Jordan was especially struck by the Infinity Chamber.

The infamous Red, Yellow, Blue II...with our own personal twist. Honestly, I think it's lovely. The triptych looks so sharp against that white wall. It gets my imagination started.

If you couldn't tell already, I loved our trip to the MAM. This has to be my favorite museum in the Milwaukee area. I guess art is just in the eye and mind of the beholder. Either that, or I'm just a nutjob. Could be either one, really.

Oh, in case you're wondering, the new header for this blog (the colorful chicken) is a Picasso painting from the museum. UPDATE: The chicken has been taken down...for now. Go see it in the museum - it's a beauty.


Next up in the staycation...Organ Piper Pizza.