Beat The Heat

Specific exhibitions almost always determine my museum-going, but the prospect of air-conditioned sightseeing with friends from Colorado lured me to MoMA during an unusually sweltering heatwave.

I'm not a big fan of abstract art, but "Jack Whitten: The Messenger" made a huge impression, and not just because of the enormous scale of much of his work. The 78-year-old mixed media artist, whose studio had been located in Lower Manhattan since 1962, saw the Twin Towers go up and up . . . and then come crashing down.

Self-Portrait (1979)

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, he spent the next five years creating this mostly acrylic painting which incorporates blood, hair, ash and dust. It actually made me shudder.

"9.11.01" (2006)

With the exception of Whitten's ghostly self-portrait and this tribute to Jean Michel Basquiat, the only indications of his African-American ethnicity are found in his titles.

"For J.M.B" (1988)

"Memory Container" (partial, 1972)

"Golden Spaces" (partial, 1971)

"Four Wheel Drive" (1970)

The intricacy of his mosaic work astonishes.

"Black Monolith Il (Homage To Ralph Ellison The Invisible" (1994)

"Flying High For Betty Carter" (1998)

"Data II" (1991)

"Blue Chips: A Dedication To Jackson Pollock" (2006-07)

"Quantum Wall, VIII (For Arshile Gorky, My First Love In Painting)" (2017)

You really can't go wrong with MoMA's permanent collection although my youngest companion spent more time looking at her phone than the art that that attracts visitors from all over the world.  New millennium kids!

"Still Life with Three Puppies" by Paul Gauguin (1888)

Has an anarchist ever been depicted with so much flair?

"Opus 217. Against the Enamel of a Background Rhythmic with Beats and Angles, Tones, and Tints, Portrait of M. Félix Fénéon in 1890" by Paul Signac (1890)

Self-Portrait by Oskar Kokoschka (1913)

Several works reminded me yet again how much our south-of-the-border neighbor has contributed to 20th century art.  I really would like to return to Mexico City.  Five days wasn't nearly enough.

"My Grandparents, My Parents, and |" by Frida Kahlo (1936)

"Cubist Landscape" by Diego Rivera (1912)

"Echo of a Scream" by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1937)

"Head of the Montserrat, II" by Julio González (1942)

Will anyone ever paint a Tesla supercharging station so evocatively?

"Gas" by Edward Hopper (1940)

I was surprised to see a kitty in "Eat," Andy Warhol's 1964 collaboration with Robert Indiana. Twenty seconds of the 45-minute "underground film" was plenty.

"Portrait of My Mother" by Florine Stettheimer (1925)

I never would have guessed who painted this Depression-era poet.  His left-wing politics likely influenced the artist, triggering an FBI investigation during the early 1950s.  By that time her style had evolved considerably.

Kenneth Fearing by Alice Neel (1935)

"Dancer in the Mirror" by Max Pechstein (1923)

The Documentation Center in Nuremberg cites this artist's work as a prime example of what the Nazi's called "degenerate" art. 

 

"Leonie" by Otto Dix (partial, 1923)

"Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites" by Mike Kelley (1987) occupies an entire gallery. He sewed the stuffed animals face-in to dampen the cute factor!

Hyundai partners with MoMA to showcase the work of emerging artists and to promote the car company's credit card.  This is America, after all.