MCNAY

On April 9, 2008, my sister and I went to go visit the McKay Museum. It is a very nice place outside and inside. The grounds are so huge and beautiful. I have been going to the McNay for 11 years now. I started going with my sister for her French class in high school, then I continued to go for my French class in high school as well. We still visit the McNay all the time. The McKay was closed for renovations, so I could not enter to see my favorite painting by Monet called Water Lilies. So we continued to search around outside and I found two sculptures that I liked. The first one is called NIGHT INTO MORNING by George N. Newton. It is a sculpture. It is painted aluminum one piece is red, the zig zag part, and the other two pieces are black. My immediate attention went to the part how the pieces kind of connect or the red piece moves in between the two black pieces. This is an abstract piece of work. The colors would be dull and bright. The form is zig zag and strait. Lines are mostly used in making this piece. This piece is symmetrical. My overall impression of this piece was that it looks interesting because I wonder how people come to think of this kind of work, I was drawn to it because the black and red pieces moves back and forth connected at the bottom. The three pieces of the artwork intertwine with one another. The best way to describe my sense of it would be intense because it’s black and red and if it is wind it would be moving fast. I wonder why it is called NIGHT INTO MORNING, I guess it goes like dark into bright changing the days. The difference between seeing this piece on the internet and seeing it in real life is on the internet you can’t see that if it is windy outside the piece moves back and forth. Seeing it on the internet the advantage would be that a person may be able to get a closer look at it because it is very tall. The next sculpture I saw was an untitled piece by Joel Shapiro. It is a sculpture of painted aluminum. It is a piece on the side of the building, but literally on the building, it is attached at the top. It is a blue sculpture. My immediate attention went to the blue because it is the only blue thing on the building. The form is lines and rectangles to make the piece. The texture is smooth and the color is dull blue. My overall impression of this piece is wow; I like it because it looks like a man running on the side of the building. It is a strange place to put it, and I never noticed it before. The best way to describe my sense for it would be photographic and comfortable, because to me it is a piece of art that I just want to take a picture of and would like to have one of these in my own home if they did not cost so much. I have seen another one like this in another place but it is bronze. I think the sculpture is interesting like it looks easy to make but it was really hard. Seeing it on the internet would be the same not much can change except for this piece it would be easier to see it up close since at the McNay it is far up on the building.