rev:text
| - This place is huge, which really shouldn't surprise me as I have to keep reminding myself that Phoenix is the country's fifth largest city. Opened in 1959 and expanded considerably over the years, it takes up about 285,000 square feet, which makes it over twice the size of the Heard Museum nearby (review: http://bit.ly/2IoAcsS). As a matter of fact, I was just coming from the Heard and only had a little more than an hour to tour the museum before heading out to the airport. That was a rather ambitious goal considering they carry over 18,000 pieces of art over three floors. I could have probably used a Segway...and lessons in time management.
It helped considerably that the galleries were quite cavernous with much of the focus on modern and contemporary art. The lobby gave way to Carlos Amorales' "Black Cloud", an expansive display of 25,000 black moths and butterflies swarming the walls (photo: http://bit.ly/2pb6AGF). There are plenty of standout works in their permanent collection from the likes of Paul Pletka (photo: http://bit.ly/2pd2qOj), Louise Nevelson (photo: http://bit.ly/2p5kpas), and Anish Kapoor whose black acrylic sculpture, "Upside Down, Inside Out" (photo: http://bit.ly/2p7CG6H), appeared like the negative inverse of his famous "Cloud Gate" in Chicago's Millennium Park.
There's quite a sculpture garden next to the parking lot with flights of whimsy like Sui Jianguo's "Jurassic Age" where a gigantic red dinosaur is held in a matching red cage (photo: http://bit.ly/2p9Djfm). Also on view are arresting pieces like Kehinde Wiley's "Marechal Floriano Peixoto" (photo: http://bit.ly/2IpFOTs), Ahmed Alsoudani's "Untitled (Sin Titulo)" (photo: http://bit.ly/2Dq1Di3), and Yasumasa Morimura's "Monna Lisa in Pregnancy" (photo: http://bit.ly/2tFLe9C). A collection of colorful Alexander Calder lithographs is currently on exhibit (photo: http://bit.ly/2FFy2Dj). Yes, I'm finally convinced this city has a significant art scene beyond Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture.
|