We took Mom to the Phoenix Art Gallery. We’ve been before, but they always have some good exhibits. The one I really wanted to see was Gianfranco Ferré’s “The White Shirt According to Me.” The Italian designer took the classic image of the white shirt and embellished and distorted and improved it.
That spot of humble plaid in the middle is hubby.
Here is the detail on the bottom of this gown shirt.
They also had an exhibition of stunning cameos. The details on the curly hair was so remarkable it took my breath away. But they were under glass and, besides, I don’t think I was supposed to take pix.
The Asian art really appeals to me and to hubby both.
The above piece represents a marriage of east and west: the Chinese vase is held by a French-designed stand.
I was also amazed by a tall red-painted and gilt-decorated cabinet with Chinese designs that was made in Mexico. So interesting how the Chinese designs were popular there in colonial days.
Contemporary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei cast some bronze Zodiac heads using the old method.
Chinese Zodiac is what some people think of as being born “in the year of the . . . . ” Hubby and I were both born in the sign of the sheep or ram. According to the information at the exhibit, the personality of these people is supposed to be artistic and elegant and peace-loving. They like history and are sensitive. I like that description, but suspect that they left out the negatives so people wouldn’t leave the museum miffed ;). Mom has the sign of a dog, and she says that Dad was Dragon. That fits pretty well. However, the sheep description fits me better than it does hubby, and the dragon description fit my dad better than it does his twin. So you can only take this stuff just so far . . . .
What will hubby and Mom and I be up to next?
I love museums! It looks like you and your mom, and husband, saw some interesting exhibits. I love the detail on the gown and the Chinese vase.
Me too! I so wish I could have taken a photo of one cameo in particular. There were two with such detailed and fine curls that it took my breath away (literally, as I said). Our museum also has a room of darling miniatures rooms. We didn’t see those this time, but they are special. This time my favorite paintings were an exhibit of Philip Curtis. LOVED these, but of course I couldn’t take a pic. http://www.phxart.org/collection/philipccurtis
Oh, that looks cool! I will have to explore it more later.
I think you might like this work. He take history and nostalgia and mixes it with whimsy.
Gorgeous post. Great that you all share an interest in art.
The fabrics of those white shirts astonished me. But that is what happens when what looks like “netting” is actually silk chiffon (not this one, but a couple of other ones). The qualities are so gorgeous: like the luminosity of this one. Yes, we all love art. We also have a top notch music museum in Scottsdale and Mom is really looking forward to that visit!
Sounds like fun. I can’t believe your hubby didn’t wear a white shirt but then again, he would have been part of the exhibit!
He wears a lot of plaid in the winter. I think he gets them all on sale . . . .
I LOVE white shirts. Also, loving your poetry in Doll God. Repetition is my fave at the moment.
It’s easy to imagine Katherine Hepburn in the perfect white shirt. A lot of these are quite strange, but they really do capture the imagination.
I’m tickled to hear you are reading and enjoying Doll God! I’m glad to hear you like that poem. It doesn’t get much attention, and I suspect it’s because of its dark aspect.
I’m not afraid of the dark 🙂
Lovely!
I love the blend of the Asian-French vase and pedestal.
I’d love to see the white shirt exhibit.
I’m the Ox, and I have never felt most of it applies to me.
Me too. So gorgeous. I was wondering what it would be like to live in a house that is chockful of art. I mean art everywhere, not quite like a museum, but like a museum on steroids. It might be fun, but I bet I would get exhausted even chilling at home. I’m trying to remember what the Ox is. It sounds stubborn though or am I thinking of Taurus haha?
I’d be a mess living in a museum-like environment, but I’d carefully visit yours. Ox are said to be conservative, family-oriented, persevering, and stubborn, and I don’t think I am. I’ll agree to hard-working, loyal, observant and bad-tempered. (And it’s not unlike Taurus in some ways, but I’m a Sagittarius.)
Looks like a great exhibit, Luanne, and I like thinking of your mom having such grand experiences with her family! I’m off to Disneyland today in hopes of some great exercise! Thanks for the museum photos.
I hope you are having a wonderful time at Disneyland and even taking some pix and riding some rides–and that we get to hear about it!
Thanks for giving me the idea! I do have many thoughts about Disneyland. 🙂
Looks like a wonderful museum. I’m not a big art museum person, but we’ve visited a couple modern art museums over the last couple years, and I’ve found I enjoyed them more than I thought I would. It’s fun to talk about the different pieces with the people you go with. Everybody sees things differently.
Really? You don’t like art museums or any museums? Do you like science museums or history museums? Or is it contemporary art that is not your bailiwick? OK, I admit it. I used that word for you, Carrie, because I’ll never forget your post about using uncommon words in fiction ;). There are words like that that I actually do NOT know, and yet they pop into my head and 9 times out of 10 I use them correctly. It must be from reading novels that use these strange and ridiculous words.
I enjoy science museums and museums with oddities. It’s just the art ones I’m less gung ho about. I like them; I just like them in small doses. 🙂
Oh wow, Luanne. Thanks for giving us a preview. I will definitely check it out!
Yes, run to that shirt exhibit–it’s so cool! And to the Philip Curtis painting exhibit–I’m in love with his work!!
Some beautiful exhibits Luanne, sounds like a great day out.
It was lots of fun. Then we got burgers at the little burger place that has gluten free for hubby and took it home so he could watch the “big game” where our team (the Cardinals–this is American football, by the way) did so bad he changed the channel!!!
And by burgers I mean a veggie burger for me as I don’t eat cows.
What a shame to drag such a beautiful gown in the dirt. You can only have someone following you, holding up your dress, for so long before it gets on your nerves.
Wow, as if. What is so funny, Anneli, is that my mother and I really do not believe anyone ever wore any of these shirts, although they show a little video of the models wearing his white shirts on various “catwalks.” They were sooooooooo teeny. I figure that models who are six feet tall must have decent sized bones and their bare bones couldn’t fit into the sleeves, for instance.
I just had an image of those women of Scarlett O’Hara’s day getting their laces cranked tighter by a winding machine so they could fit into those dresses.
I have only been to one museum in my life-time. I really need to get out more. Here in Michigan there are some really nice ones. Maybe this summer I’ll have to make an effort to expose myself. It seems like a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
I think I take for granted museum going because my family always went. My son’s fiancee had her first museum experience with us when we went to the Huntington in Pasadena. It was more of a large garden, but also has a small art museum, library, etc. It was fun to watch her face at the experience. Growing up in Kalamazoo, we always went to Chicago for The Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, and the Chicago History Museum. We went pretty often. And then in Detroit, Henry Ford Museum and Deerfield Village. We went to one as kids near, maybe Battle Creek?, that I wrote a poem about (in my book). And I used to love the little museum above the library in downtown Kalamazoo. I know it’s on its own now. And the art institute, too.
Well, it looks like I definitely have some close options. The one museum I’ve been to is the Henry Ford, but only part of it. There are so many close by, I can’t even imagine why I’ve never gone. I’m definitely going to make this a priority this year.
I love museums, and this one looks fascinating. Thanks for the great photos, which helped me feel like I’d almost been there.
Oh, I’m so glad. That’s what I was hoping for! I love to sample places I can’t go myself!
I love your pictures of what you liked best in the Museum. I would have chosen them as my favorites, too. The Ai Weiwei Zodiac Signs were in the Cleveland Museum of Art for a while and I visited them several times. They are striking.
Oh, that is so wonderful that you got to see them, too! I think they have been making the rounds for a few years. These are bronze. I guess they have them in gold, too? Not sure . . ..
What gorgeous exhibits!! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
Really beautiful. I wonder if they would come near you?
I was in heaven at the Smithsonian. We spent days there. Love the pictures and also fascinated with the Asian art.
Oh, the Smithsonian, yes!!!! And the Metropolitan. All those big ones woohoo!!!
I was also delighted by the metro in Chicago. I just love them all.
I love museums, Luanne! This is a great post. How exciting to see these beautiful works of art with your parents – and thank you so much for sharing them with us 😀
Luanne, thank you for taking us along on your trips with your mom! I was born in the year of the rooster and, yeah, they must make this stuff up because I’m supposedly “gregarious” and love to be with people, blah, blah. Ah, no. I’m pretty much an introvert and relish my solitude 😉
I saw the exhibit too…an ethereal beauty
Well put! I’m so glad you could enjoy it!
Shirts very interesting – but signs of the Zodiac fascinating to me. Those interpretations were stunning.
Does your poor mother ever get a rest?? 🙂
Great exhibit! Love the white shirts.
Me too! I thought you might like them!
Love the white shirts, so unusual…
Each one is so unique and imaginative!
I did enjoy my wander through the museum with you, Luanne. 🙂 It always surprises me what you can find.
Thanks so much, Jo! Exploring is such fun!