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R A P I D R I V E R A R T S
fine art
People-Museums, and the
People-Museums Who Love Them
MORE ARTISTIC MUSINGS FROM THE SCI-FI LOVING SHUT-IN
I
keep hacking
helplessly away
on this elusive
piece about my
visit to the LA
County Museum
of Art (LACMA).
If you write, you
know what I’m getting
at... a concept
won’t quite flow
out the fingers, but
it won’t quite go
away, either. So
much to say is maddeningly
juxtaposed
with attempts to
hollow-out a simpler
storyline.
This is also
why my book isn’t
finished. OK, it’s
partly that and partly because I just had
to watch the Star Trek Next Generation
made for DVD movie, “Nemesis”. (TWO
DATAS! TWO PICARDS! That’s all I’m
saying. Except that more unbelievable
than the plot is that I of all people actually
hadn’t seen it yet.)
Anyway, other ideas freely jump in,
jockeying for position in the mental queue.
Museums make me think about art history.
Art history makes me think about my mother.
I actually learned more about Picasso
from her than I did in my schooling.
Pre-Columbian gathering: Could they be
discussing Picasso?
People are like musuems –
we are storehouses of interests,
revelations and secrets.
BY GREG VINEYARD
One day I came home and the walls
were covered with Picasso prints from an
oversized art-print book. His circus performers
provided balance in my psyche
against all other clown art. I became familiar
with the Blue Period. And I was the only kid
in high school art history to correctly provide
the answer “Guernica” for 1000 extra
credit points. The living room had become
an art museum.
It hit me during a yoga class (My first
ever! At 106! Which proves you can start
any time!) that these major thoughts do
kind of weave together. Maybe. It could
have been the strain of holding poses much
more intricate than my usual one of trying
to look vaguely intriguing at Starbucks.
Anyway, in my leg-shaky haze I decided
PEOPLE ARE LIKE MUSUEMS.
I recently got to attend the opening
of the new
Reznick Pavilion at
LACMA. Architecturally,
it blended
perfectly with their
ever-expanding
map. I can’t say I
cared for the layout
inside, or even two
of the three opening
show choices,
but the educational
aspect was excellent
— and isn’t
that what museums
are for? So who
can really complain
about anything
other than the
painfully obvious tactic of herding traffic
through the gift store? And
I loved the Pre-Columbian exhibit in
the main hall. So I have to say there was
something for everyone: cool outsides,
wonderful colors and a variety of visual arthistorical
experiences.
LACMA is one of my favorite places in
Los Angeles, so it was great to go back and
see how it has changed. It was like visiting
an old friend who had a new idea to excitedly
share over a fabulous lunch.
To me, we are all like people-museums,
having those lunches, sharing our art. Me,
my friends and family members ... we
are a collective set of related buildings
on a lush campus, and we are as worth
visiting as a group as we are worth
visiting individually.
We have lifetime memberships to
each other’s storehouses of interests,
revelations and secrets. And because
of that, we get chances to mutually celebrate
our ever-evolving experiences.
So make sure to keep up your memberships
with the people-museums in your
life. But no routing through the gift store!
Spending time is the real gift. I still hang art
all over my walls to this day, thanks to the
people-museum I grew up with.
Greg Vineyard is an artist
and creative consultant
in Asheville’s River Arts
District. He and his Ceramics
for Contemplation &
Connectivity can be found at
Constance Williams Gallery,
(the middle building in CURVE), 9 Riverside
Drive in Asheville. Open every day 11 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Visit www.CURVEstudiosNC.com.
Vol. 14, No. 6 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — February 2011 35