Institute of Contemporary Art

Never before have I seen a museum as grand as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. From its architecture to its massive art collection, The Met has a little bit of everything and one is sure to find something that captures his or her interest. Considering that The Met is the United States' largest art museum, it is easy to get lost within its many corridors and wings. My visit to The Met took place during the last week of July. Despite the almost unbearable heat and humidity that hung in the air, visiting museums under these climate conditions is a welcome respite from a suffocating, yet bright summer afternoon.

One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum publically showcases Mrs. Gardner's collection in the greater Boston area. Each room functions as a chapter of a pilgrimage. When one travels through various countries and time periods, one inevitably ends up in a gallery built in the imitation of a chapel, and subsequently the Gothic room. In this paper, I will examine the Gothic room's theme in relation to the placement of its objects. I will also evaluate the room's strengths and challenges in serving the public, and how the conventions employed in this room contribute to the general accessibility of the museum.

New York City, one of the greatest cities of the world, is remarkable because of its history, culture, and diversity. It is world renowned for its skyscrapers, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Broadway entertainment, Radio City Music Hall, Central Park, and even restaurants specializing in ethnic foods. However, the thing that most intrigues and excites me about New York City is the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Positioned alongside Central Park in the heart of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and most influential art museums in the world. The Met houses an extensive collection of curated works that spans throughout various time periods and different cultures. The context of museum, especially one as influential as the Met, inherently predisposes its visitors to a certain set of understandings that subtly influence how they interpret and ultimately construct meanings about each individual object within the museum. Brent Plate in Religion, Art, and Visual Culture argues that “objects obtain different meanings in different locations and historical settings.”An object placed on display behind a glass case inside a museum would hold a vastly different meaning if it was put on sale by a street vendor, like the ones who set up their tables in close proximity to the Met. The different meanings that objects are able to obtain is attributed to the relationships that are established between the object itself and the environment that surrounds it. These relationships often involve the kind of audience that a museum attracts, where the work is exhibited, and how the exhibits within a museum is planned out. Museums subsequently have the ability to control how these relationships are established which influences the way a viewer is able to construct meaning. When a visitor observes an object on display at the Met, they instinctively construct a certain set of

The main building of the Art Institute is constructed mostly of masonry, with few windows, and feels very heavy and overpowering. Grand staircases and large columns dwarf visitors as they move through the galleries. This is similar to the way the art in the space makes you feel: small, unimportant, and sometimes even afraid. The Modern wing in constructed of steel and glass, and is very open and bright (except when intended not to be). The large north wall facing Millenium Park is one large expanse of windows, letting in plenty of indirect sunlight, and opening the gallery to the park. The space feels very light, in both senses of the word. As with the old building, the art feels similar to the space in that it is more open and less opressive.

Next time you are walking through the Art Institute of Chicago I would highly recommend a visit to the Gift of Edlis|Neeson Collection, located on the second floor, gallery 292A. Here you will find a tantalizing array of modern day contemporary art that delivers a sensory overload wherever you turn. Nestled in between the copiousness of talent you will find three offerings from a prominent living contemporary artist called Jasper Johns titled Alphabet (1959), Figure 4 (1959), and Target (1961). Although at times his work faced rejection from the critics of individualism of abstract expressionists his life’s journey sculptured his path to who he is as a person and who he has become as a modern day renowned contemporary artist.

The Art Institute of Chicago is a great place to see the Asian art. The Art Institute receives a four out of five stars. The positives are that there are a huge variety of visual arts to appreciate. The first negatives of the Art Institute of Chicago is that the Islamic Asian art is under developed. There are two pieces that represent Islamic influence Indian art. The second is the expense to visit is high. Parking and admission for someone who lives out of state will cost fifty dollars. There are two exhibitions and three collections worth mentioning in this institute. The two exhibits are the Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings and Kesa: Japanese Buddhist Monks’ Vestments. The collections that are worth checking out are the Southeastern and Oceania, South Asian, Korean, the Chinese, and Japanese.

With exhibitions of the most thought-provoking art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is one of the Nation’s largest facilities devoted to the art of our time (“About the MCA”) . The mission of the MCA is to offer a direct experience to the public of modern day art and living artists. German architect Joseph Paul Kleihues designed the new building with seven times the square feet of its previous facility (“The Building”) . October of 1967 the museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. The Museum of Contemporary Art is a symbol of modern art, culture, and the artist of our time. It is a stepping stone in history and will leave footprints in the heart of Chicago for many generations to come.

The purpose of this paper is to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art and write a reaction paper about art works at the museum based on my impressions about them. To begin, I will start by giving you a little of background information about this interesting museum.

The de Young museum seen from a distance is a bold architectural statement, with its sleek horizontal building, indeterminate dark brown color and its massive tower emerging from its slightly bent curving roof. The building is an example of boldness, internationalism and cultural neutrality. Its setting in the Golden Gate Park’s landscape with the topography, vegetation; weather and light are taken advantage of. The significance of nature and the art that is housed in the museum from the Americas, Oceania, and Africa can be seen as having resonance in the architecture. Many of the works of art are sacred in their cultures, are made of natural materials and were never intended to be displayed in formal settings. Post modern theme of ‘context’ comes into expression as Jacques Herzog put it: “These objects belong to nature. We wanted to emphasize that”.

Positioned alongside Central Park within the heart of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest and most influential art museums in the world. The Met houses an extensive collection of curated works that spans throughout various time periods and different cultures. The context of museums, especially one as influential as the Met, inherently predisposes its visitors to a set of understandings that subtly influence how they interpret and ultimately construct meanings about each individual object within a museum. By analyzing two separate works on exhibit at the Met, I will pose the argument that museums offer a unique expression of a world view that is dictated through every element of its construction.

A group of us Arts and Music students used the day on Wednesday to go into the city to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It was a cold, breezy day so we were all bundled up in jackets and hats. As we got off the E train and walked toward the museum, its appearance was not what I expected it to be. The museum was an elegant, beautiful building made of what looked to be marble; not the big, brick monstrosity I had expected. Once we walked into the museum, it was even more elegant on the inside. The marble staircase had sculptures on each side leading up to the rotunda where white Christmas lights were strung around the banister in decoration for the Christmas season.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is the world’s leading modern art. Its exhibits have been a major influence in creating and stimulating popular awareness of modern art and its accompanying diversity of its styles and movements. The museum’s outstanding collections of modern painting, sculpture, drawings, and prints range from Impressionisms to current movements. Moreover, there are exhibits of modern architecture, industrial design, sculpture, photography, prints and electronic media. The museum presently has a modern art library of 300,000 books and impressive collections of films that are shown regularly. The Museum is said to be the complementary of the Metropolitan Museum

According to the American Alliance of Museums, community engagement in museums includes the use of this facility as “a center where people gather to meet and converse and an active, visible player in civic life, a safe haven, and a trusted incubator of change” (Long 141). Different museums