Local Exhibitions

Over the next few weeks I plan to make a trip to one of many local art exhibitions and create a review. Finding local exhibitions is a lot easier than you may think, there are several in Ulster County alone. However, I don't plan to stay that local. The first exhibition I have in mind is just outside Ulster County, in Poughkeepsie. It's located in the Barret Art Center and it's going to be called A Celebration of Color; here's a link containing some information about it:
 A Celebration of Color

Visiting this exhibition with my budget and lack of a car should be no problem. There is a bus that travels solely between New Paltz and Poughkeepsie a few times a day. The trip is under ten dollars and the bus station in Poughkeepsie is a short walk away from the Barret. This is likely the trip I'll  make if my next option doesn't pan out.

That option is a chance I have to take a free trip to the MoMA in New York City. A friend of mine is a photography major, and stays very involved in the school's art department. Through him, I found out the school has already reserved a couple buses to bring whoever wants to go to the MoMA. I believe some seats are saved for art majors, but there should be enough left open for me to join in.

There are always a lot of exhibitions at the MoMA, the one I plan to critique is called Inventing Abstract. This exhibit explores the origins of abstract art, and displays select pieces from 1910-1925 which are believed to have started the abstract movement. Most of the art in this exhibition is also from Europe. I really hope this trip works out because abstract art contains most of my favorite pieces.

My final option would be to plan my own trip to the city and visit the Metropolitan  Museum of Art and review one of the exhibitions they have there. A trip to the city really doesn't take much planning. On any given day, all I have to do is go down to the Trailways bus station and buy a round trip ticket to the city. This option is a bit more costly than going to Poughkeepsie, but it is much more worth it. In the MET I'd like to see an exhibition exploiting the art of Africa. This exhibit is supposed to contain artifacts as well as modern artwork and is meant to convey the dynamism of African artwork after 1910. Similar to the MoMA exhibit, the African Art showing will highlight pieces from 1910 up until the 1930's.

I plan for this trip to happen sooner rather than later, but knowing myself it may take a bit of time before I'm able to make this trek. However, I am more excited for this trip than I would be for ordinary school work; I've never been to any famous art exhibitions, and can't wait for my first time. When it's all said and done I'm sure I'll have a greater appreciation for artist and visual culture than ever before.