One Way Do Not Enter

oneway
Originally uploaded by nicciwashere

It's a beautiful day in Mt. Adams (all over the city, really), because the sun's out, the sky's blue, and all of the flowering trees are in bloom. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so the little tornadoes of white flower petals swirling across the blacktop might not mesmerize anyone else, but I found them just as interesting as the artwork inside the museum.

21C artworks are on display at the moment. The contemporary works are reportedly on loan to the museum until the new facility (hotel, restaurant?) opens here. There's one in Louisville (http://www.21chotel.com/hotel/default.aspx). What's cooler than a hotel with loads of contemporary art? A hotel with a giant water slide, sure. But contemporary art comes in at a close second.

Our assignment for today was to visit the museum (thanks for the docent tour!) and ponder the art, then write an ekphrastic poem. (That is a poem after a work of art, the experience of viewing a work of art, etc.) No poems yet, but I did take some photos inside and out.

I was most amused by the ONE WAY DO NOT ENTER sign in front of the art museum. (So much so that I feel a poem coming on...)

Helpful tips for museum visitors: No monopods OR tripods in the galleries. Woops. I guess someone must have whacked a piece of art at some point... aaand you're not supposed to snap images of work outside of the permanent collection. >.> Also, no fondling or licking the art.

If you go, be sure to check out fat Batman, the creepy breathing piece, the small gallery behind the FAME neon sign (blinding, ouch), and read the art info next to the giant encaustic (wax painting) of Obama's head. It's from a series of works made from Wall Street Journal thumbnail images, but done huge. That's the piece I really wanted to touch, but a docent was watching me, sooo. I behaved.

Mostly.

Did anyone else think the assemblage of re-purposed bottle bits (3rd floor) looked a lot like a drape from a Klimt painting?

Related links:
Cincinnati Art Museum: the museum's website & visitor information.
More on Ekphrastic foo: to Wikipedia, son!
21C Louisville: a hotel/art gallery in KY.