Modern Art

I am always quick to say, “Just because I am an art major does not mean I love all art”. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it all and think that the study and investigation and appreciation of art is important, no matter what it is. I’m just glad that I do not have to specialize in some parts. When I say this statement and give a spiel about it, I am mostly thinking about modern and contemporary art. I have always struggled with seeing the value of it and it does not interest me as much as other fields (such as Baroque churches).

I like to call myself a very open person and I like that to be reflected in art. I like when I can look at something and see emotion and detail and can interpret these elements quickly. I am comfortable with the sculptures and architecture that I can move around and touch and see what purpose it is for. Modern and contemporary art makes me uncomfortable in the fact that the purpose and the meaning are not greatly there. It calls for you to look deeper and is more of a self-reflection. This could possibly be an explanation for how I feel about myself. I do not want to deeply self-reflect and delve into my thoughts and how I actually am feeling. Which is why it really surprised me when I woke up this morning and decided that I was going to visit the Rome National Gallery of Modern Art.

I was inspired by my friends who had gone just a few days before with their philosophy class. They all raved about how much they enjoyed it which enthralled me because many of them do not like the kind of art I like. So, I figured that I would take a step into their realm of interest and stretch out my comfort zone. Walking into the museum I was a little timid. I paid the entry fee of 10 euros, grabbed my map, and then shoved it in my purse. This was not going to be a room by room thing. I was not going to use the map as my guiding tool. I was going to experience this museum in its entirety with no rush to get through it. The first pieces I saw were part of an exhibition done by an artist from the United States. I recognized his name from a few pieces I had seen in MoMA in New York City this past January. This exhibition gave me hope because it was a truly interactive one. I was able to walk fully around the pieces and get up close to them. I do not even know how to describe them other than it looked like there were people standing underneath cloth, but it was all the skill of the artist that made these shapes. I started to get the ‘museum comfort’ that I usually have when I enter any space centered around art.

As I wandered around the gallery, I was pleasantly surprised by the mix of art. In my head, I have these compartments for different types of art and what things go together and such. This museum tore all of that down and had a variety of pieces next to each other. There were some truly modern pieces, but they were placed next to something more literal like a painting or statue of a person or nature. This mix of art styles still went together so cohesively that it put me at ease. I found myself looking longer and deeper into modern art pieces than I ever have before. I do not know what the artists had intended me to feel or take away. But that is okay. My bias against and bad opinion of modern and contemporary art was slowly being peeled away by this museum. I saw it for what it really was: a chance for the onlooker to escape a literal, sometimes hurtful world, and reflect on their true emotions.

I do not think that I will be specializing in modern or contemporary art anytime soon, but this museum visit allowed me to open my eyes to something I never thought I would enjoy.

“I am still learning” -Michelangelo