PICASSO AT MOMA 2

Used to be, when I would see a show like the Picasso Sculptures currently at MOMA, my attention would be superficial, for lack of a better term.  That is to say, I would look at the forms representationally.  I would see with very little understanding.

Now, because I know I will be drawing many of the forms that I am looking at later, my gaze might be considered analytical, for lack of a better term.  With a Transparent Drawing mindset, I am working at the show to understand the complete shell of the piece.

A show like the Picasso MOMA exhibition mandates multiple visitations.  It is absolutely impossible to take in each piece holistically.  The show comprised about 7 rooms.  So in a perfect world, you would only do one room per visitation.  Any more than that, and I at least start to cloud over.  I start to loose my ability to see.  In the reasonable future, I indeed hope to be in the position to be able to make multiple visits to a NYC show like this.

Yet given my current setup, I must see the entire show in one fell swoop.  And given that MOMA blessedly allows you to take photos, I am continually walking around with my phone out, taking photos of the work.

I find it difficult to take more than say two photos of any piece.  And I typically take one photo, and that photo is typically not the full frontal view that is in every catalogue.  Given the time constraints, taking one or two photos is only what you have time to do.

When drawing from the piece later, Google Images always comes to the rescue.  Even though I took a photo of the work, while drawing from the photo, I invariably have questions regarding the forms, how they complete and intersect.  So more likely than not, I am drawing from the photo that I took along with images on the web of the piece.  The drawing at the top of this page was done from this photo, which is the head of the sculpture titled “Female Bather Playing.”

In this way I am seeing with much greater clarity and purpose.  Knowing that you will be drawing this piece later wakes you up and makes you pay close attention.