StreetSigns of Life: mayo 2012

On a recent visit to New York, I made an impulsive decision to go see the Keith Haring Exhibit at the Brookly Museum. Despite entering the metro outside the Museum countless times, I'd never ventured INTO the museum. I've been deterred by the $12 entry fee (particularly when I pass through NY from self-created residencies abroad) and am generally put off by museum spaces.

Anyhow, I learned the entry fee is actually a donation, but well worth it. The permanent galleries have several exciting and engaging works, and are organized in a way that challenges traditional categorizations. For example, the center for American Art and Korean Art nicely mix complimentary pieces from different periods, in a way that seems to make the art less stagnant. Though the art lives under a label, it does not seem stuck in time or genre due to the non-linear organization of the galleries.

But, the most exciting part of the visit were the temporary exhibits. I'll describe them in the order that I visited.

First, the Keith Haring exhibit nicely showed his gallery work, public work, and notes and papers exploring process. I was especially engaged by the number of notebooks from his time at the School of Visual Arts. I think we often see pieces -- particularly illustrated pieces with simplified shapes like Harings -- and assume they are the product of an almost religous "moment of inspiration." The inclusion of his notes and sketches, on the other hand, document the careful development of his visual vocabulary. I was surprised to see that the Haring SVA documents did not seem to acknowledge the presence of pre-columbian or indiginous art in his work.

Another highlight of the exhibit was the room of Haring's subway drawings. In some cases the entire structure of the NYC 70's MTA system advertising boards have been removed and framed. It's always ironic to see public work removed, framed, and placed in a gallery.
photos: SUBWAY DRAWINGS

Next, I saw the Judy Chicago Dinner Party -- a classic. I was most taken in, though, by a small collection of Newspaper illustrations by Djuna Barnes. The drawings are morbidly wonderful alone, but I was also interested to learn about this feminist character of the past.

Lastly, The Question Bridge by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Chris Johnson in collaboration with Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair (hurry, it closes June 3!) is a project I've been following online. I was pleasantly surprised to find an instillation of five t.v. monitors on the first floor. The monitors show clips of Black identified males of all ages, classes, and regions discussing a number of prompts, creating a sort of dialogue about identity, race, the prison-industrial complex, and more themes. Seeing the project in the gallery was very powerful and , unlike viewing it online, provided an important space to consider the production of race and gender in our past and present.
photos: tv monitors .

So, please enjoy these photos of street art taken inside and moving art made still!
And see more of the Brooklyn Museum at :http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/