Saturday, May 29, 2010

Picasso: Themes and Variations




Friday night at MoMA is quite like stepping into a Fellini film. Since superstore Target covers admission fees, every gallery is teeming with crowds of people. Last night was no exception. The real buzz was over Marina Abramovic's hugely successful interactive performance piece where she faces off with museum goers who wait in line to take turns sitting in the chair across from her. As they meet each other's gaze, the tension between the artist and her opponent reads like a life-sized chess match.
As for the other shows, the real standout to me was the Picasso print survey. It wasn't exhaustive, but it did provide a terrific overview of his themes and his printmaking techniques. The images of his different lovers provided yet another chess match-- this time Picasso making the moves, swapping one woman for another, using his pen to capture the whole dynamic on paper. Masterful in execution, these prints offered insight into the artist's heart as well as his ability to morph his style with unsurpassable ability.

2 comments:

Nicole Ripka said...

While performance art may be above my head, i didn't love Marina Abrovic- truthfully i was bored. Tim Burton on the other hand I totally should have gone to him first:)

Nadine @ BDG said...

I like to think of performance art as blurring the line between statue and theater-- and oftentimes it isn't as esoteric as it seems-- meaning there isn't that much to get. I missed the Tim Burton but Jackson and James got to it and said it was great.