Saturday, May 5, 2007

MoMA: Looking Up, Looking Down

I had a day off yesterday (Thursday) so I went to my favorite museum in the city, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on 53rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. The reasons I love MoMA best are because: (1) it is small enough to see all the exhibitions in an afternoon but big enough to have a diverse collection of art; (2) the new building, designed by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, is simply spectacular; (3) it is very easy to get to from my apartment; and (4) there is a wonderful fruit and vegetable juice cart right outside the museum for some post-museum refreshments.

The photos above show the views of the 5-floor corridors from the mezzanine (left) and the mezzanine from the 5th floor corridor. For the rest of the week, I will be doing a series of photos from my visit to the MoMA.

Do you have a favorite museum or place near your home where you can visit on your day off?

25 comments:

alice said...

Lucky you...

Bel said...

My visit to NY included a tour of MoMA and I loved it.

At the time, there was a photo exhibition of landscapes/scenes made entirely from coloured paper. The landscapes looked SO real, as the details were so intricate. It really was just amazing and impressive.

Of course, I can't remember the name of the artist or the exhibition, but it was on in March 2005.

You ARE lucky to have such a great gallery so close to home ;o)

Oya said...

That is a very modern building...Lucky you...

Anonymous said...

I love Art. This modern building is so good. This facade is a very good idear. Lucky you it's a very great gallery

GMG said...

Hi Ming, thanks for the information. The MoMA building was a fantastic museum, but with this new building, it promises to be even better!

Shammickite said...

I'd love to stroll around that museum and take it all in. We have the Royal Ontario Museum here in Toronto... I haven't been there for a while so perhaps it's time for me to plan another visit. A current exhibition is Ancient Peru Unearthed.... sounds interesting.

Kate said...

Love art museums. The Dylan exhibit ends on May 6 at the Weisman Museum on the U of MN campus and it is my all-time favorite museum building in the Twin Cities. I tried to link it but again I got "your HTML cannot be accepted: tag is broken" (even when I used snipurl). Frustrates me no end!!!!! It's a Frank Gehry building so you know it's got to be unusual and spectacular!! I met a woman in Mexico who's coming here just to see the building because she's trying to visit as many Gehry buildings as possible. Lucky her!

Anonymous said...

This museum is spacious up to down but not left to right, it seems!

stromsjo said...

I’m not much for flying so I doubt that I’ll ever get to see it but MoMA is really on my short list. Are you allowed to snap photos in there? Our Moderna Museet isn’t bad either and it’s somewhat easier to reach... An hour’s commute, in my case.

Rafe Totengco said...

great shots again. love the illustrations on the wall. just got back from a long trip, dying to see NY all over again.

Z said...

I used to love going to the Smithsonian museums and the National Galleries of Art in DC when I lived near there. Free entry to fantastic exhibits: that was simply amazing for me. I miss that a lot. Here, most museums charge an entry fee, but our credit union membership (topic of a recent post!) gives us a museum pass that lets us in for free at over 400 museums and such around Switzerland. I'm trying to visit as many of them as I can, so I haven't had the chance to go back to too many. It's a tough life! :-)

Ming the Merciless said...

per stromsjo - MoMA allows people to photograph only in the permanent exhibition galleries but no flash light allowed. They don't allow photographs in the temporary special exhibites.

Ming the Merciless said...

tigerfish - Yes, it's quite narrow because it is sandwiched between two other buildings. What I love about the space is it was created primarily for exhibition so there is a lot of natural light and white spaces.

stromsjo said...

Sounds reasonable. I've encountered all sorts of rules at museums in different places. Over here it's mostly a big no-no.

MumbaiiteAnu said...

Love the building.

Dsole said...

Wow! In Madrid, we a had a discotheque called MOMA where I've worked as a waitress sometimes.. hehe (not anymore)
One of my favourites is Reina Sofia museum, you'll find there some Picasso, Dali, Miró, etc. it's not very close to my house but I don't care crossing the city to reach it!

isa said...

Not crazy about Modern Art...Prefer smaller, lived-in places like the Rodin Museum and Gardens in Paris or Anne Frank's apartment in Amsterdam.

Annie said...

It's wonderful to be able to go into the quiet and artistic spaces that museums offer. There's one here in Little Rock called the Historic Arkansas Museum that I like to visit. But my favorite is the Hirschorn in D.C. Have you been there?

kuanyin333 said...

I used to go to the MOMA a lot. Do they still have Picasso's Guernica to the right on the wall when you enter? I have a great story about that! :-)

Lovely photo, and it's good to be back checking up on my photoblogger friends after too long!

angela said...

Great photos...
My neighbour was a curator at MoMA so I get to hear some of the gossip...
Angela

Sally said...

Yes, MoMA is superb. But so is the Metropolitan, if you confine yourself to a section or two!
I love Picasso's portrait of Gertrude Stein in the Metro.

The Matisse over the stairwell in MoMA is stunning.

kuanyin - Guernica is home in madrid, and they guard it VERY jealously. I read it was refused loan even to ....Guernica....on the occasion of the anniversary!

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

Eheh I agree with Sally about Guernica. By the way about MoMA look it up or down it's ever great !!

Todd HellsKitchen said...

MoMA is my favorite... But their Membership fee is exorbidant. The Target Free Fridays get too crowded. Although this month I can get in for fee with my Bank of America card. Thanks for the tip-off, Ming!

Nathalie H.D. said...

To me my favourite museum in Sydney is the Art Gallery of NSW, it's free and open on Wednesday evenings until 9pm which is when I go. But I'd swap ten nights there for one at MoMa !

TCho said...

yeah, home. DVR rules. Lol.