mojosmom

Every so often, I take a photo that strikes me as painterly. This one was taken from the third floor of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and looks to me for all the world like something from the Hudson Valley School:

Thursday night I hooked up with some other people from Casa Italiana and went to the Art Institute to see the panels from Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise from the Baptistry in Florence. Well, three of the panels and some of the frieze. It's a fascinating exhibit, because it shows a lot of the conservation and restoration work that's been done. Then there was a lecture by Andrew Butterfield which was quite interesting, as he talked about how Ghiberti used innovative techniques in the design and creation of the panels.

Friday, I headed for Indiana. I got to Anderson in the early afternoon, having stopped for a bite to eat at a local IHOP (International House of Pancakes). (~whispers~ I had a senior meal). This whole trip was because someone had mentioned an exhibit at the Anderson Fine Arts Center, "Kimono and Green Tea". I didn't want to drive three and a half hours for just that, so decided to combine it with a visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art - of which, more later. The Center itself is worth seeing, as it is in a former Carnegie library building that has been restored to it's former beaux arts glory: The exhibit itself was good, but I'd have liked the labeling to be a bit more informative. I think it would have been good to give things their proper names as well as an English descriptive (i.e. say juban as well as "underkimono"). There was also an exhibit by a woman named Judith Hanes, a local artist who does some very interesting mixed media work.

After this, I headed to Indianapolis and the Stone Soup Inn, the bed-and-breakfast where I was staying. It's a beautifully restored turn-of-the-(20th)century home. Lots of books lying about! Had I known, I wouldn't have brought two library books, which would have been a good thing, as I apparently left one there! (I've emailed them, and am hoping they have found it.) I asked the innkeeper for a restaurant recommendation, and he said there were quite a few good restaurants along Massachusetts Ave. So I headed there, and discovered that there was a gallery walk going on. Also a lot of very interesting architecture. I visited a variety of stores and galleries, and then had dinner at a place called Aesop's Table, quite nice.

On Saturday, I walked over to the Morris-Butler Museum, just a couple of blocks from the B&B:
An Italianate home built in 1864-65, it was lived in by two local families, neither particularly famous for anything, just average folks with money. ;-)) It's basically set up to show the way people of that class lived a century ago. At the same time, they have an exhibit up of objects from Frank Lloyd Wright's SAMARA (a house he designed in West Lafayette, and, typically, also designed the furniture and textiles) juxtaposed with objects with the same function from around the time Morris-Butler house was built (which was a couple of years before FLW was born). Clever idea!

Then I headed to the IMA. I thought for a bit that I wasn't going to get there! As I neared the Museum, there were huge crowds, and barriers, and traffic management-type cops. It turned out there was a huge outdoor art fair happening on the IMA grounds! Fortunately, I was able to bat my eyelashes and get into the IMA's parking garage ("I just want to see the Museum!"), rather than paying the "Penrod parking $25".

This is a great museum. When I checked to see if there was anything I wanted to see going on, I found exhibit after exhibit. Dior, German Expressionist Prints, Greek & Roman jewelry, prints by Nelson Mandela (well, prints based on his drawings), Piranesi's Views of Rome, Hats of Africa all kinds of stuff! Their Asian and African galleries in particular were quite good, and they also have a fine collection of contemporary glasswork. My one disappointment was that the Book Bodies exhibit (artists' books) was in the Library, which was closed due to the special event mentioned above, and as the library is also closed on Sundays, I couldn't just go back today, so I missed that. As you know, I'm very interested in "process", so I was thrilled to see a small exhibit called "Giovanni Bellini and the Art of Devotion", showing, through a variety of photographic techiques, how images were created and copied in his workshop. Then there was their Star Studio, demonstrating, in real time, the restoration of a Renaissance painting. How a conservator can concentrate on the delicate work with a bunch of museum-goers staring at him is beyond me, but he seemed unfazed.

I am totally enamored of the Museum's escalators. They are framed by wooden strips, very Japanese-looking, creating these great geometric images. I took lots of photos. Call it my "Escalator Series". This is, I think, my favorite:

I returned, a bit exhausted, to the Inn, finished up the book I was reading, and then went off to dinner at an Italian restaurant (salad was soggy with dressing - I complained and they comped it - but the spaghetti and fruit tart were excellent), and then to a local tavern, the Chatterbox, to hear some jazz. The vocalist was Mary Moss; she did some jazz standards, some r&b, all good. Everyone had a good time. Only thing was, the Chatterbox is a smoking establishment. It didn't seem like a lot of people were actually smoking, but, jeez, did my clothes stink! Shoved them all in a plastic bag, and they are headed to the dry cleaner's tomorrow!

(All my Indianapolis photos here if you're interested!)

Leisurely drive home today, and spent a couple of hours loading pics into iPhoto. Went off to Millennium Park for the Chicago Symphony "let's try to get people to subscribe by doing a free event" concert - Mozart's Overture to The Magic Flute, Ellington's Suite from The River (with Savion Glover, hoofer), and Moussorgsky/Ravel's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Nice weekend. This coming week I'll be out of the office all but one day, as I'm coaching again at the Mandel Legal Clinic's Intensive Trial Advocacy Seminar. Which is basically mornings off, as it's five minutes from my house and we start at 11:30 a.m.!