Yesterday I took you to the Columbus Museum of Art. Today we’ll go back and talk about the modern art wing. I love the Impressionists and the light and dark of nineteenth century Danish landscape painters because they’re beautiful. Modern art is less my thing but I appreciate that modern art makes me think. I like that it makes me pause even if it’s only to wonder what the heck the artist was trying to accomplish.
Adam was especially taken with a series of three wall sculptures made of found objects like gears, chains, musical instruments and scrap materials fashioned into unique shapes. While it’s fun and creative, there’s something a little creepy about how they change with how you view them. On one side of this piece, they seem chaotic and on the other, it’s clear the pieces create a head, spine and organs.
As for me, my favorite piece was this larger than life copper sculpture called Nocturne Navigator. Created by Alison Saar, it commemorates the legacy of the Underground Railroad. She’s illuminated from within and the skirt shows the constellations of stars that guided freedom seekers on their dangerous journeys to a better life. She’s a permanent installation and helps to tell the story of the more than twenty documented Underground Railroad stations in central Ohio.
She is breathtaking.
I made far fewer pictures in the modern art museum and that’s a clear indicator of my level of engagement with the art. I best engage with the world by photographing it so I wonder how much I got out of it. All the same, I think it’s important to open your mind to things you wouldn’t ordinarily choose for yourself.
Be sure to read the first story about the museum if you haven’t read it!
