SFMOMA - Calder

Tonite we went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: SFMOMA.
We donated to KQED (PBS) and they had a night of free entry.
We drove up to SF, parked and walked a couple blocks to the museum. We got our tickets and went straight up to the Calder exhibit. I really like Calder. He made some crazy Mobiles and his Stabiles are pretty neat too. When a museum does the lighting right, a Calder Mobile casts the most wonderful shadows. When people walk through an exhibit like this, the gentle breeze from their bodies causes the Calders to twist and turn ever so gently. The whole room comes alive with a "flow" that I think people can feel much more so than in a room of static pictures. It was great. Many of Calder's works could easily be created in the computer nowadays, but they wouldn't have anywhere near the ...emotive feelings that his work does.

Then we went down a couple floors to the modern paintings. As the museum was clashing soon, we had to quickly walk through the rooms. I prefer to look at each piece closely, then at a distance and then closely again. Sometimes brushwork is just fascinating. Then I'll walk away and glance back to see what first catches my eye. Many modern pieces are just solid colors, so I think they're a bit boring - so I stare at them for a while and then look away to a blank piece of white wall. My eyes show the opposite colors for a short time and it's often very interesting.

I'm usually pooped after a museum visit.