San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art aka: SF MoMA, S.F. MoMA

There was a Frida Kahlo exhibit last time I went, and a Chuck Close exhibit the time before that. High quality exhibits along with a great permanent collection = must see destination.

Right now is an amazing time to go to MOMA. They are having an exhibit of Picasso, alongside the works of American artists who were inspired by him. This exhibit is going to be there until May 28th. I just got back, and it was fantastic!

Flew down to SF for the day in 2002 to take in this exhibit.

So worth it! As an added bonus The Photography of Lewis Carroll was also on exhibit! Fascinating.

My ex-girlfriend contrasted the architecture of this site with that of the Whitney. Whereas with the Whitney, upon entering the building, the first impression is that of openess. For instance, a glass wall in the lobby gives you view of the sculpture garden. Needless to say, the resulting sense of freedom works in concert with an implied freedom of expression one would hope the institution is there to promote. With the SFMOMA, however, there are absolutely no visual cues as to the actual function of the building or what it contains. She pointed out that the catwalk beneath the apex of the building was a detail it had in common with prisons. I found that a bit of a stretch, but I did find it eery that there were “windows” in the photography gallery that were ceiling high but no more than a few inches wide that looked down on the lobby. This allowed you to view anyone entering the building while remaining concealed – exactly the type of construction used for arrow-slits and murder-holes in medeval fortresses. The implied function of the building (and let me stress that I commenting only on the psychology of the architecture and not the intent of the SFMOMA staff, curators, or donors) therefore is not to share art with the public, but rather to safeguard it from the public. Stand in the lobby and you’ll see what I mean.

The absence of a sculpture garden is particularly lamentable as a number of the sculptures on exhibit look forlorn and lost in a space that paintings and other works inhabit quite comfortably.

My home away from home….