Change Over

I'm taking a desperately needed break from my thesis at the Museum today. I'm doing preparatory research on the new exhibitions that are being installed; Asa Ames: Occupational Sculpturing and Dargerism: Contemporary Artsts and Henry Darger.

I just took a quick peek upstairs to see the whole museum is in the process of the change over. The carnival horses are no longer running together but are spread out over the floor in what looks like a random stampede. The lion peers out between the slates of its wooden crate, and has never looked more realistic than now that it's caged. The smell of fresh paint is everywhere. The red walls and gold Hebrew letters on the foyer are now covered over in a deep teal. Priceless paintings lean against walls as if they were old posters. The usually quiet and sparsely populated museum is crowded with workmen carrying crates in and out of the museum.

All the guards tell me as I pass them that this will be a really popular exhibit. Like Ramirez, the outsider artists who will make up the Dargerism exhibition will draw people in with their offbeat and often disturbing pieces. They are expecting thousands of people, and full capacity on Fridays. Quite a difference from the mostly JCC senior groups that attended the Jewish themed exhibition.

I cannot wait. I'm reading up on the Darger-inspired artists and the pieces we will display. I find that I'm especially drawn to the photographers, Justine Kurkland and Anthony Goicolea who depict adolescent groups of girls and boys in sometimes innocent, more often disturbing interactions. Other mediums include sculpture, orchestral composition, collage, ceramics, as well as graphite and painting. I'm enjoying reading how the artists have found Darger inspiring; some by his methods of tracing and appropriating, others by his style of shallow depth and color, many by his epic tales of imaginary worlds.

The change over echoes my own restructuring as I prepare to leave TC, and perhaps NY, for the next steps in my life. I could use some new paint.