A San Francisco Thing - SFMOMA
There’s a lot of stuff going on here at the moment, not all of it good, and some of it categorically bad, so occasionally doing that “getting the most out of being in SF” thing I blogged about last week feels increasingly important. Of course, finding the time in amongst all this stuff is the trick.
Fortunately, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is about two blocks from the office, and offers a convenient lunchtime respite. Obviously a lunchtime isn’t enough to do any museum justice, and certainly not this one, but it is time to take in the key points of a current exhibition; Richard Avedon, Photographs 1946 - 2004.
Obviously nearly 60 years of material provides an incredibly diverse range of subjects, and Avedon’s style over the duration shifts appreciably, while maintaining a clear sense of his particular approach. The exhibition material states he “revolutionized the genre of portraiture. He rejected conventional stiff-and-staid poses and instead captured both motion and emotion in the faces of his subjects…” and there’s little to argue with that here. Even a particularly striking portrait of Marilyn Monroe, which comes close to looking traditional at first glance, provides an intriguing twist. Marilyn looks off-camera, a slightly downcast expression on her face, her eyes and downturned mouth somehow sad, her whole body slightly sagging. It’s a far cry from the kind of photos of the icon you’re used to, all flamboyance and sparkle.
SFMOMA is the only US venue displaying this exhibition, so seeing it definitely fits the ‘only in SF’ model, but regardless of that I’m glad I did.
The museum has a Georgia O’Keefe/Ansel Adams exhibition running through the autumn too, so a return visit is definitely on the cards.