This may come as a surprise to most, considering I am an art student that lives pretty close to New York City, but I had never been to the Museum of Modern Art until yesterday. It may sound crazy, but I am happy that I hadn't been until then. Whether it be my art history classes, or being made to produce art at a rapid pace for classes, I have come to appreciate art a lot more than I did when I was younger. There's something inherently different about the experience when you actually know the artist and background of a painting before seeing it in full scale before you.
I've been to the MET before, and of course, I applaud the artist's technical skill, but pretty much everything there is old and I've learned about it all before, in grave detail, even when it's subject matter is something as universally known as the crucifixion of Jesus. Boring... But the MoMA is a millennial art students dream. Everything that is everything is there. Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Pollock, Matisse, Dali, Lichentstein, Warhol. All the "cool" art movements that broke out of the traditional scheme are there, from impressionism to futurism, to dada to surrealism.
The main difference between learning about them in class and seeing them is the size of them and the details that you cannot capture in pictures of the art. For example, Dali's dripping clocks painting is so tiny. It's literally the size of a piece of printer paper. Here I was thinking that it was at least the size of a decent canvas. And Boccioni's "The City Rises" is HUGE compared to what I originally thought.
And the details! They are absolutely amazing. When you get up close to a piece (but not too close because you'll get yelled at, which I may or may not have experienced...), you can see the strokes of the paint, the humanity of the artwork. There are even some, like Oskar Kokoschka's piece that I have as my thumbnail for the article, that have scrapes on them. They were actually done by the artist on purpose, just as another textural element. These artists that I have learned about are often put up on a pedestal of perfection, where they broke tradition and made something incredible, which they did, but I often forget they were once my age, that they were human. It's similar to how we think of celebrities, because I suppose they are celebrities in their own right.
There are also exhibits that are from the 80's, 90's, and 2000's that are that modern visual and video art that makes you leave the exhibit questioning everything. They are an experience in themselves. There are projections, television sets, and theaters dedicated to this art, which is amazing.
Another thing: MoMA is so easy to navigate compared to the MET. It's essentially just a square building so you can't really get lost, which I enjoy. Even if you aren't someone who lives and breathes art, you should definitely check it out at some point. There's something that speaks to everyone there.
