Julie Mehretu and Photography at the Guggenheim
At the end of the day, no matter what exhibits the Guggenheim puts up, it is always more about the building. Today, Jessica and I went up to the Guggenheim to see a few exhibits.
The large exhibit was called Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance. A mixture of all three mediums.
I had seen many of the pieces before that were in the show. Conceptually the idea was pieces that show ghostly images that are haunting from the past such as war. As Jessica put it, who recently took an art history course, that it should be about our interpretation instead of a bunch of art historians telling you how the art is conceptualized. She might have something there. I have read what the curator put up on the Guggenheim site at least 10 times and am still at a bit of a loss. Regardless, I didn't think the show was curated that well because I have a hard time seeing the supposed thread across the show. Oh well.
What was fantastic was the small exhibit devoted to a handful of large paintings by Julie Mehretu. The pieces are about traces of the past in the current landscape. That is her interpretation of how she sees the work. Walking through areas where there are still lasting vestiges of war. Regardless, the pieces are big, bold, architectural and ethereal at the same time. Absolutely worth going to see.
We stopped by the new restaurant called The Wright which is on the south side of the building. Feels a little bit like the inside of a modern boat that crossed a 70's basement without the shag rug. Run by the Restaurant Associates that runs the restaurants for other institutions throughout the city. They should take a lesson from the Moma and hire a real restaurateur. Although the menu reads well and the food looks good, it isn't good. We tried two things.
Smoked chicken sandwich avocado espelette pepper dressing. The chicken was awful. Looking like head cheese and not tasty at all.
The
salmon, beautiful presentation, was not bad. Decent fish, soft
focaccia (not flat-bread) and a heavy horseradish cream. Alas. We were just curious. Nice to have a new restaurant in the area but not worth hanging around after the exhibit for the food.