A New Perspective On Modern Art

Took the kids to the Denver Art Museum yesterday. That was our first visit since they opened their new sharply-angular wing (see http://www.denverartmuseum.org/home for a picture). Actually, it turns out that the first Saturday of the month is a free day. Which was good, but it meant the museum was quite crowded. Between my daughter in the backpack and pushing my son in the stroller, trying look at the art and not to run into anyone, I actually didn’t notice the architecture at all, although we only went onto two floors in the new wing.

I’m not a huge fan of modern art. Some of it’s impressive, some of it’s cool, some of it’s moving, but mostly I don’t get it. Honestly, I look at a lot of the pieces and fail to see a great deal of talent underlying them.

But being there with a two-year old made me appreciate it more. My daughter was much more attracted to the the modern stuff, which is much more bright, colorful, and does a better job of grabbing your attention. By contrast, the old master wing was totally stodgy, and she couldn’t wait to leave it. Not that Denver has the best collection of that genre, but I can see that it really did stand out as being dull in a kid’s eyes. So I will grant that modern art does have some positive virtues. I should note that some of the modern pieces were definitely adult in nature; should make for some awkward conversations in future trips with the kids.

We only lasted about an hour in the museum. This was my favorite piece: “By June the Light Begins to Breathe”, by Keith Jacobshagen. It doesn’t look that great on a little computer window, but it was impressive seen up close.

One odd note: as we walked in, a museum employee told us that there are a few galleries where they don’t allow you to take a baby backpack in. I’m not sure which exhibits we were banned from, since we weren’t actually chased out of anywhere. I’d love to know what that’s about. I mean, they allow strollers, and I’m not sure why a backpack is more dangerous than a stroller. You can store just as much contraband in one as the other. I would think they would encourage the pack since it’s way better than having kids running amok. I’m glad we brought it; there were a number of exhibits that my daughter wanted to play on, including the “design” exhibits (i.e. chairs and sofas), and the brightly colored toadstool sculptures (forgot the formal name, but one of the cooler pieces there) in the modern section.