Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn Museum Field Trip

Many museums contain work that exhibits different cultural backgrounds and techniques used to execute the work that is being presented. As said by Alan King, “Museums are good things, places to look and absorb and learn.” When visiting the Brooklyn museum, I was able to view many exhibits. The ones that stood out the most were the African, Contemporary, and Agitprop exhibit. These three exhibits were able to have a piece of work that inspired me as a person and as an artist.

The African exhibit holds many historical pieces that displays historical beauty, and authority. When viewing the many different pieces in this exhibit, the one that interested me most was a pair of anklets. These anklets were done by an unidentified berber artist and was done in the late 19th century. This piece was made out of silver and contains many details in the front of the anklet. The art done to this anklet was very neat and clean and shows a lot of detail. These anklets contain a very large ball at each end of the anklet. By the look of it, it is a very heavy object to carry around one’s ankles. When researching information about why Africans wore such heavy anklets, it was stated that they were not only used as an ornament to beauty, by also, in some cases, a protective guard against evil spirits. Africans also wore silver ornaments to protect themselves from illness and as a source of currency. Not only does this piece of art serve many purposes, but it also represents the beautiful work that was created during this period as well as periods before then.

The Contemporary exhibit, also known as I See Myself in You, focuses on works that have been collected over the past five decades, mostly those of the twenty-first century. The work that caught my eye in this exhibit is called Study for Profile done by Pablo Picasso in 1948. Since a child, Pablo Picasso has always been my inspiration which is another reason why this art piece was also my favorite. This medium used for this piece is a zinc lithograph. Although I could not find any background information on this work of art, I did find information on lithographs. Lithographs are done on metal or limestone with a smooth surface and are used to print. This art form was invented in 1796 by German author and actor Alois Senefelder as a cheap method of publishing theatrical works. This work was invented in order to print text or art onto paper or other suitable materials. After printing out their work, as many times an artist feels like making, they would then break the stone in order to increase the value of their work. The art piece informed me on the many ways artists were able to make their work valuable and one of a kind.

When having to choose an art piece from any exhibit that impressed me, I choose a graphic print named Urgent Visions which was done by a man named Gazeer in 2015. Gazeer had to leave Egypt in 2014 due to an organizing force behind the explosion of political street art in Egypt. Gazeer still creates his work and now targets what he sees as U.S hypocrisy and police brutality alongside that of the Egyptian regime. The art work I choose, features a section of Gazeers graphics from 2011 to present day. His recent work was done on October 2015 after an Egyptian was sentenced to three years in jail for photoshopping Mickey Mouse ears onto an image of president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. His work is very detailed and straightforward on what topic he is trying to get across. In all, his graphics are beautiful and expresses a political voice.

In conclusion, each exhibit that was viewed in the Brooklyn Museum expressed the artist’s creative mindset. The African, Contemporary, and Agitprop Exhibit were able to express culture, technique, and political views. The three works of art that I choose impressed me the most due to its detail, the mediums used, and the background information it contains. These works are truly an inspiration.

African Exhibit

Pair of Anklets