MoMA: Morgan of Modern Art.

The MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, in New York City is a great place to indulge in the arts and culture that our modern civilizations have to offer. It seems as if the curators searched for all things done in the name of beauty dating back to the 1880s. Just to briefly name drop, I caught a glimpse at the works of all the great beauty creators; Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and one of my personal faces, Andy Warhol.
I paid close attention to Van Gogh's and Johns' paintings, since I had already covered their work in previous blogs. I got a real up close look at The Olive Trees and Starry Night by Van Gogh.

I've seen Starry Night in several different mediums: books, pictures, power points, and internet; but being able to see the original in such close proximity was utterly breath taking. Each stroke had life breathed into it. They all came from a place of such passion. The texture was the element of the painting that made it pop. The cool blues and spurts of mellow yellow spoke calmly to me. They put me at ease and allowed me to mentally escape to that little village and enjoy the starry night. 

The Olive Trees is a painting that I am unfamiliar with. However, it elicits the same emotions from me that Starry Night does. I am calmed by the colors and pulled into the landscape. If only I were able to run my fingers through the grooves of the paint strokes, I believe that the texture would massage my hands gently as I envision myself laying at rest beneath the olive trees. Van Gogh's paintings were everything that I hoped that they would be. They were enlightening and embodied the essence of Impressionism.

Jasper Johns is an artist that I knew little about. I still wouldn't consider myself the utmost authority on his works, however, I do appreciate the ones that I have seen. While at the MoMA, I looked at Flag and Green Target by Johns.

What I noticed about Johns is that he likes to add things to his canvas in order to give his paintings some texture. In both of these works, Johns used plywood as his base, then layered it with canvas and strips of newspaper. These elements, distressed and mixed together, give his works the look of being worn and torn. It deepens the colors and gives the appearance of having gone through a struggle. This is why I find it perfect that one of his subjects is the American flag. It portrays the American struggle and the newspaper puts you in the shoes of an everyday American, just trying to make it. Being able to see these element up close gave me a new perspective on how I viewed Johns' other work Three Flags. I am now able to appreciate how he got that distressed look. When I look at Green Target, I find it ironic. A target is supposed to be easy to spot, something you're aiming for. Johns painted the whole target the same one color. The message I get is that everyone is shooting for the same target so no one can see the goal anymore. That work really inspired me, because my eyes were drawn to the small patches of yellow. I hope that means that I still have a fighting chance at achieving my goal because I have a different view from everyone else.