San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art Exhibit Review
San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art Exhibit Review
by Anjeleah Thao
( Front View of SF Moma)
On February 9 2020, I visited the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art, located in the lively downtown city of San Fransisco. Upon visiting the museum, you'll see the brick colored building tucked between buildings, surroundings galleries and a modern open space in front of the building.
Richard Mosse: Incoming
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| Myself viewing the photographic series "The Castle" by Richard Mosse
Heart-stopping, intimate and thought provoking are three words that describe my feelings in this. In the four photographic collages, Richard Mosse created an exhibition investigating the zones of conflict in the Middle East, in the Democratic Replubic of Congo and in refugee camps along routes in Europe. He incorporated a video installation and photographs taken with a military grade thermal camera that renders his work in black-and-white. What is most interesting is the contrast of using a military camera to portray the intimate and the extreme struggles of refugees in these camps from 2014- 2017. Such struggles shown are poverty, broken homes, famine struggles, violence, and destruction. I found myself to be reminded of my fellow Hmong refugees escaping the Vietnam War, deeply thinking that the daily activities and struggles of people escaping warfare, violence and poverty share one thing: struggles.
Soft Powers Exhibit
"Can the circle be unbroken 3". 2019.
Digital Print on Linen, Iron and Black Walnut, Cypress Yellow Ochre, Black Tea and Charcoal.
(Exhibit Title)
Soft Power was a Reagan- era term used to describe the ways the U.S. may influence the world by showing its "soft" assets such as culture, political values and foreign policies to attract friends and support. Walking through the museum, the exhibition Soft Power caught my eye because of the way these contemporary art respond to the current social, political and cultural environments. Artists in these exhibitions enact their role as citizens or social actors that comment and emphasize issues of migrancy, rural life, narrative of resistance.
Myself viewing "They're All Afraid, All of Them, That's it! They're All Southern! The Whole United States is Southern!". Xaviera Simmons. 2019. Acrylic on Canvas.
"To Leave the South, They left the South."- One Panel
Showing the systemic oppression that still continues today, Xavier Simmons references works from Jacob Lawrences' monumental Migration Series (1940-41) replying to his 60 figurative panels with texts from herself, news sources, academic journals and statistical data. She uses words or motivations by black Americans leaving the rural south for the industrial North to escape the slavery system. The texts and panels created a shift of landscape, artistic history and an interconnection of formal processes.
Overall, I felt intrigued by the message of Soft powers and the way these artists were not afraid to use their tools and methods to comment on social and political change. Seeing this exhibiotn has made me realize the privileges of living in America, the roles I get to have as a student, an artist and as a American citizen.
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You have great photos. I really like the way you write about the art you see. The language you use in your blogs is very descriptive and demonstrates your reactions to the works and how it made you feel. With this writing style, your blog becomes very engaging and interesting for viewers to read! I would like to make my blog entries more engaging, and yours set a great example. By adding more descriptive words about how the art makes you feel and how you connect to it provides a really great image for the readers.
ReplyDeleteAnjeleah, you provide really deep and insightful connections to the works you viewed at the MoMA. For the Richard Mosse exhibit you talk about a piece and mention how it reminds you of your people who were affected by the Vietnam war. I appreciate you sharing that personal connection you made. It really strengthens the point that the artist makes about warfare and its consequences when viewers can make connections about this subject within their own cultures and countries.
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