Trip to the Brooklyn Museum

The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago

Today, December 2nd I had the pleasure to go on a solo and first visit to the Brooklyn Museum. After my quick arrival from Jersey, the museum was a pleasant sight from the exterior. I started my walk through the museum from the fifth floor. After visiting the Shapiro Wing, and the American galleries I worked my way down to the fourth floor. This is where the Sackler Center of Feminist Art is located which is current home to Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party. The triangular room is already a statement in Judy’s piece, at the entrance of the room an entire red wall is dedicated to welcoming you to The Dinner Party. Adjacent to this, is a small passage summarizing Judy Chicago’s role in the feminist art movement. Next is a short hallway under six woven banners welcoming people into the room. I was led to an obscure doorway leading into the dimly lit room of a triangular dinner table. Each individual place setting was so distinct from the next adding to the artwork’s organization. The first place setting I was greeted by was the table for Georgia O'Keefe and the familiarity and knowledge of her work taken from our class was reassuring. I was first surprised yet excited to see Emily Dickinson with her own spot at the dinner table. Dickinson was my favorite place setting simply because of the intricate layers of ruffles made in a stunning dust pink color. The ruffles represented her time during the Victorian era which impacted her life and writing. And of course, my love for her poetry and her honesty within her poems that contributed to literature and to feminism. The embroidery of all the names sewed into the runners were so impressive because of their delicate details and the evident usage of various media. Some plates were made to resemble the female genitalia and others were constructed to be objects, or to be simply painted.

Emily Dickinson's Placemat, The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago

The place setting of Virginia Woolf was my second favorite woman to recognize in the room. Her plate stood out of from the rest with its feminine layers of ceramic/porcelain petals. The space of the room was lit dimly by smaller lights and as well as the Heritage floor in the middle of the table, written with gold lettering on white colored tiles made it impossible to not enjoy the overall unity of the art piece. I specifically enjoyed the place settings that were accompanied with 3-D plates, one in particular had a small raise of a floral like spiral on the plate, which caught my eye. The mentioned plate was representative of Caroline Herschel. My eyes were also drawn to the architecture of the room, the repetitive usage of triangles throughout the room added consistency and emphasis on the piece. From the ceiling to the table, and floor triangles were visible. While walking around the room, I noticed windows at each corner of the triangle room which allowed people within the feminist gallery to look inside. Walking around the Sackler Center of Feminist Art I came to the conclusion it was mostly modern art  and advocated for strong pro-feminist and pro-lgbt messages. Being in a room full of all types of artworks done by striving and famous women artists such as the Guerilla Girls that of course I know from our class readings. Analyzing their works at the Brooklyn museum compared to viewing them on a screen in class had a different impact on their entire message. Seeing the various pieces done by the Guerrilla Girls peaked my interest and made me appreciate all their hard work even more. After my visit to surrounding rooms on the fourth floor I visited a few areas of each floor.

Caroline Herschel Placemat, The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago

276 (On Color Blue), Joseph Kosuth

The last stop during my visit to the Brooklyn Museum was the exhibition on the first floor called “Infinite Blue”. The exhibit features a variety of artworks varying in media and time periods. The color blue and its symbolism were one thing all works in the exhibition had in common. The museums website states, “In cultures dating back thousands of years, blue—the color of the skies—has often been associated with the spiritual but also signifies power, status, and beauty. The spiritual and material aspects of blue combine to tell us stories about global history, cultural values, technological innovation, and international commerce” (Brooklyn Museum). Simplistic paintings of the blue sky and obscure blue lawn chairs were my favorite features of the exhibit. The simple idea behind the entire exhibit being based on just the color blue and its infinite shade range and meaning made my last stop at the museum a pleasant one. I also discovered an area which is currently under construction for a exhibition dedicated to Friday Khalo which may bring me back to the Brooklyn Museum.