Saturday, September 19, 2009
Modern Times
I finally got down to check out the Modern Wing at the Art Institute today. I say "finally" for two reasons. First, although it opened in April, I have not been within a three-block radius of the place in at least nine months. Second, thanks to the wonders of the Red Line, it took me forty-five minutes to get downtown. I played three separate games of Word Mole on my blackberry in the interim. So at least the time wasn't completely wasted.
The museum itself was really nice. The building is quite beautiful and really makes the most of its location with a lot of great views of the city and natural light. I like the fact that there's a long bridge to the third floor entrance from Millennium Park that might actually trick some parkgoers into checking out Salvador Dali and Willem de Kooning. Plus there's a coffee bar on the balcony overlooking the main hall, which makes for a delightful place to have a $2 bottle of apple juice. Oh, and the bathrooms have cool faucets. Everyone loves a cool faucet.
Having the extra space has allowed them to showcase more of their collection, which I can only imagine was previously stored in Rod Blagojevich's linen closet or loaned out to the Des Moines Museum of Fine Art. It also takes some of the pressure off of the Impressionists section of the old space, which traditionally was jammed with more white people than Denny's on a Sunday after church. I especially enjoyed the space devoted to Bruce Nauman, who has a video series where he tortures clowns. Sub in Katherine Heigl and he really might be on to something.
I finally got down to check out the Modern Wing at the Art Institute today. I say "finally" for two reasons. First, although it opened in April, I have not been within a three-block radius of the place in at least nine months. Second, thanks to the wonders of the Red Line, it took me forty-five minutes to get downtown. I played three separate games of Word Mole on my blackberry in the interim. So at least the time wasn't completely wasted.
The museum itself was really nice. The building is quite beautiful and really makes the most of its location with a lot of great views of the city and natural light. I like the fact that there's a long bridge to the third floor entrance from Millennium Park that might actually trick some parkgoers into checking out Salvador Dali and Willem de Kooning. Plus there's a coffee bar on the balcony overlooking the main hall, which makes for a delightful place to have a $2 bottle of apple juice. Oh, and the bathrooms have cool faucets. Everyone loves a cool faucet.
Having the extra space has allowed them to showcase more of their collection, which I can only imagine was previously stored in Rod Blagojevich's linen closet or loaned out to the Des Moines Museum of Fine Art. It also takes some of the pressure off of the Impressionists section of the old space, which traditionally was jammed with more white people than Denny's on a Sunday after church. I especially enjoyed the space devoted to Bruce Nauman, who has a video series where he tortures clowns. Sub in Katherine Heigl and he really might be on to something.
