I've been to the Met so often over the past eight years I know all the 'regular' stuff. For me, the real treats are the exhibitions. Not only is the 'stuff' great, but I always learn something. The visit this past week was no different - well, other than I'm a MEMBER!!!! Did I mention that?
OK, so first, there was 'Play It Loud!'. This exhibition contained instruments of famous rock and roll artists from about 1955 to the present. Here was my favorite part of the exhibit
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| (I'm not crazy - I'm looking for a spotlight, so my face will be lighted, and, of course, that's when Drake snapped the picture) The instruments are self-explanatory. |
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| Lady Gaga's piano - she played "ArtPop" on it when she guested on the Tonight Show |
Next, here's a quirky one. It was billed as "What did Art Cost during the Renaissance in Northern Europe". The 'unit of currency' is one cow. One milk cow during this era was worth one month's salary of a skilled worker, or two month's salary of an unskilled worker, and that price remained very stable. The exhibition consisted of pieces made in Northern Europe during the Renaissance era. There were sculptures, paintings, jewelry, pottery, tapestries, etc., and each piece was valued according to how many cows each piece was worth. Here's the premise:
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| Tankard, gilded silver with rock crystal and precious gems - worth 158 cows |
The one thing that really came across to me was even in the 16th century it was damn hard to make a living if you were an artist. This exhibit was fascinating in that it made me look at objects from a whole different P.O.V. As always, there are pictures.
Here's the exhibit which taught me something I didn't know. It's called "The Tale of Genji". This is a 52 chapter book written in Japan in the 11th century by an aristocratic Japanese woman. The equivalency in importance to Japanese culture and literary heritage is as Shakespeare is to Western culture. I'd never even heard of it! People have been talking about it, thinking about it, writing about it, and representing it in art for one thousand years. The government of Japan sent things to this exhibition which are considered national treasures and have never before left the Japanese mainland. It blew my sox off, I can tell you. Here's the 'title page' of the exhibition:
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| That's a representation of the woman who wrote the book and me - looking happy |
Finally, the last new exhibition is called "Camp". This was the theme this year of the most famous party in New York City: The Met Gala. The exhibition paralleled the 'gala'. Mostly, it's about a definition of what is 'camp', when it originated, and how it's been taken over by the fashion world. There were lots of examples of the extremes of runway haute couture fashion. It started with Oscar Wilde and displayed pictures, and caricatures of him as well as some original manuscripts - like his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. "Camp" was definitely his thing. The over the top fashions are the true stars though. And, there's a Caravaggio exhibited which, in Drake's opinion, was the only thing worth seeing in the exhibition. Well, he was totally wrong. This was outrageous fun. And, just for my new mom daughter, here's what all new moms wear during routine baby care..... at least the 'camp' ones.
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That's the 'new stuff' at the Met. Did I mention I'm a MEMBER?
