A Vist to the Art Institute with Kelly

Okay, St. Patrick's Day weekend rolled around-

& I, completely oblivious, planned a trip to the Art Institute

with my friend Kelly.  Kelly & I met in college,

where we were both art students.  So, the Art Institute

was the perfect environment to reconnect :0)

Now, back to St. Patrick's Day weekend...

Oh my goodness, the trains were packed with folks

in the most hilarious ensembles:

   

Green feather boas,

green bow ties with flashing LED lights, 

green tutus, 

green hats,

 pretty much green everything.   

  

On the train into the city, one guy decided it'd be a great

idea to pierce his ear

& on the way back the 'burbs, there was nearly a drunken brawl.

Oh brother.

After Kelly & I finally found each other-

we came in to different train stations...

we trekked down the museum and ran into

an impromptu street party with bucket drums 

as the entertainment-

So, that was pretty cool :0)

         

Traffic at the museum was actually pretty light for a Saturday,

another plus for visiting during a party weekend.

Can you believe I actually paid a dollar to "coat check"

my Vogue magazine?  I couldn't help it--that sucker was

heavy.  But, it makes excellent train-reading material -so,

it's perfectly justifiable, right?

Kelly & I had a blast posing with the art...

 

and snacking...

Kelly's good at getting discounts.

She got us a discount on this lovely cupcake. 

 

We stuck to the modern wing this time around.

For some weird reason, I was really obsessed with these

two pieces by Cy Twombly.

The First Part of the Return from Parnassus.  1961.

 

The Second Part of the Return from Parnassus.  1961.

Here's a couple of close-ups:

 

I always love Giacometti too.  He's one of my favorites.

Don't his figures look so lonely and sad?

We got to play a little photo game with

Human Nature/ Life Death

by Bruce Nauman, 1983.

I landed on HUMAN DEATH NATURE & 

Kelly landed on LIFE NATURE ANIMAL...

hmm....

You know me, I'm always on the lookout

 for chihuahuas, even in the art world...

 

 

There was a special Picassco exhibit there too.

I was fascinated by his handwriting.  Check it out. 

I imagine mad scientists write like this too :0)

All in all, a great visit,

I can't wait to do it again.

Thanks again Kelly, you're the coolest.

 

Labor Day

On Labor Day, we decided we'd better

check out the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit.

It was the very last day the display would

be at the Art Institute.

On the way there, we ran into a protest

in support of the Chicago teachers.  Folks everywhere

were wearing red shirts in support of the 

Chicago Teachers' Union.  The best sign I saw said:

IGNORANCE IS A 

DISEASE

KNOWLEDGE IS THE 

CURE

EDUCATION IS THE

TREATMENT

That's perfect!  You can't get much more spot on than that. 

Even Miller's Pub was totally full for lunch
with supporters crowded in to take a well-deserved break.

 

We spent the majority of our Labor Day waiting in 

various lines - the line at Miller's Pub, the line to get

into the Art Institute, and the really-really long line

to get into the special exhibit.  But, even

after all that waiting we had a good time.  It's fun

to see pop art up close and personal and full size.

I had no idea Roy Lichtenstein's career was so extensive.

The exhibit was much bigger than I thought it would be.

It was a primary color explosion!