SF Moma

I've been keeping this brochure on my desk from my trip to SF MOMA in feb; a reminder that I wanted to write some thoughts down about the trip. It was one of those trips that felt important, like I reaffirmed my life mission to make art. There was a retrospective on Francesca Woodman who I had not heard of previously and its a shame cause she has an amazing collection of photographs. She killed herself when she was 23 and it was one of those weird moments where you're looking at all these intimate self portraits and just wondering what it is about our society that makes life so uncomfortable for some of us...

There was another photography retrospective for a Dutch photographer, Rineke Dijkstra who honestly has created some of the most amazing portraits I've ever seen. Most of the portraits are focused on teens and you can just see the awkwardness in each of them. Its this weird juxtiposition showing how all of us experience these fragile times where we feel insecure and strange and out of place... So again it makes you wonder why there are some of us who can't take it...

Rineke also did several series of people over time. There is one of a boy entering the armed forces... I think it was the French Legion or something like that.. but you see a change in him... its... I don't know how to describe it, but suddenly he is changed and you just know he saw or experienced something that stole his innocence. Its gone after that and every photo reflects it... It was really quite incredible.

I got to see an exhibit by Mark Bradford who is doing these massive collages, arranging pieces of advertising and billboards, all sorts of found paper and he cuts them into squares and rectangles and arranges them in patterns that honestly to me look like a city from a birds eye view. I felt an instant kinship haha. His paintings are massive too. There is something wonderful in being completely absorbed in a painting. Its like being transported to another world.

I guess I kinda miss the city when I think about museums...