MoMA

I returned last night from an absolutely amazing trip to NYC. So much was done and accomplished that it can’t all be condensed into one post. So here’s the first installment, a visit to the MoMA. And what a better way to start off than with my newly-finished MoMA bowl:

The bowl would not represent the collection properly without a Warhol. And a trip to NYC with no references to Warhol would also seem flavourless. I’d already been preparing for the trip, and top of the list was Warhol’s studio on 57 Great Jones Street, where Basquiat spent the last months of his life and died of a heroine overdose. Here’s the front door:

On our way to Cafeteria for the first brunch in the city, we walked by the Chelsea Hotel. It was here where Warhol shot Chelsea Girls in 1966, a film about his Factory regulars and their lives at the hotel.

We tried to have a super fabulous ice-cream sundae at Serendipity 3, which Warhol frequented before he was well-known, but unfortunately the queue overflowed out to the street…

But back to the MoMA… and to my favourite painting there: Matisse’s The Dance. Here it is hanging majestically:

The BBC series of Modern Masters shot an entire episode on Matisse, which I couldn’t recommend more, and you can watch here:

Although not on view at the MoMA, for reasons I cannot understand, Robert Indiana’s 1967 LOVE screenprint is part of the museum’s collection. The colours, composition and cleverness had to make it to my bowl. Curiously enough Manhattan as a city recognises the brilliance of Indiana’s work and a sculpture of the piece can be seen on the corner of 6th Avenue 55th Street. Perpetually crowded by people, if I may add…

To make the trip to the MoMA even more memorable, there was live music being played in the Sculpture Garden. But not just any live music, it was bossa nova, magical and perfect  for a warm summer night:

Mauricio Pessoa was the genius behind the end to this magical night. And each time I listed his song Boca no Lodo, I am literally transported back in space and time…

NOTE: All photos by Araceli Robledo

Artists’ studios

Whenever we think of artists and their studios, the first thing that comes to mind is a loft-like interior, big windows, high ceilings, very messy, etc. But this is not always so. My father, I remember, used to sometimes paint in the living areas of our house, although he had a huge studio to himself. I think he craved family life and there’s no better place for that than gathering around the dining table, cooking, doing homework, drawing, painting. We were a very creative lot. Actually, we still are in a way. This is where I am perched for the day. I am subletting an apartment overlooking Toronto’s High Park until my visa is approved and can move to Montreal.

Through the wondrous Pinterest I recently came across the fantastic photograph below of Alexander Calder in his studio at home.

The other artist who sprang to mind rather instantly was Matisse. But the image below is of no ordinary studio, it was his bedroom in the latter years of his life. He was in a wheelchair, but that didn’t deter him from doing what he did best.

And here’s Mr Picasso himself in his studio in Cannes. I do love the fierce look he carries, more than a painter he resembles a boxer.

NOTE: If you wish to know the source of each of the images uploaded, simply click on the image itself.