Modern Wing; Art Institute

Friday on my B-Day, my patient husband took me downtown (in the driving rain - our pants and shoes were soaked walking to the station!) by train to see the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute.

We took a cab to the front door and entered the traditional way - though I can see that entering on the North side by the new bridge would have been a very dramatic entrance. The price now for entry is $18, but coat/umbrella check is free. This includes the Modern Wing. You walk back through the long gallery (used to be full of armor and weaponry, but now has ancient Asian sculpture and such) to the end and then turn left to these huge glass double doors (really extraordinary floating doors that open much easier then their size would suggest).

Then, you enter a whole new space that really takes your breath away. It is full of light and air with floating staircases and lots of vertical lines. It's the main hall in this new space and all the galleries to view the works are off to each side. There is an order in which you view the works. If you want to start chronologically (which we didn't and I regret), you would climb to the third floor first to view the earliest of the modern art for the beginning of the 1900's. You must begin at the north end each time (there are guards at the south end who won't let you enter so their intention is to control flow so you see the work in a certain order). Then you descend the floating staircase to the next floor. At the north end of each floor are EXTRAORDINARY views of Millennium Park and the city. Views that you will have never seen before and that really rival for your attention against the artwork and is arguably more captivating then the artwork itself.

The Work. Modern Art jolts you, makes you think, annoys you, angers you, lifts you, informs you, confuses you, scares you and on rare occasion offers beauty to behold. This is how I felt as I walked through each gallery. While many pieces I recognized like Dali, Brancusi, Magritte, Lichtenstein, Warhol, Man Ray, Picasso, Matisse, Jackson Pollack, there were many I was unfamiliar with. The husband balked at works that he felt a kindergartner could easily do. Prepare to go with an open mind and put the work in the context of the times they were created. It would also help to educate yourself on modern art. I drew on my art history classes back in college so I had a very base knowledge.

After walking the Modern Wing, we grabbed some lunch at the cafe and then my husband felt the strong need for some equilibrium and comfort so we walked through the French Impressionism gallery - quite a stark contrast! It looks beautiful and I am wholly enamored with the two giant Vuillard works on exhibit, but somehow I feel like they have suppressed much of the French Impressionistic work - not sure if it's on loan or in storage.

After we left the Museum we turned north and headed to Millennium Park to see the new works on exhibit. By this time the sun had come out (and the humidity was intense!) There is a new installation that commemorates the Burnham Plan. These are the Burnham Pavilions - see link:
http://burnhamplan100.uchicago.edu/history_future/burnham_pavilions

Only the Pavilion by UN Studio was complete, and it is really something special to walk through. It had an uber modern feeling to it. It had beautiful soft curves and allowed you to view the city in different eye shaped forms as you walked through it. The space invited people to stop and engage with each other in conversation. I really loved it and it's temporary - only through October, so go see it! There are other secrets about it, that I won't share - you should experience them personally. The other Pavilion is still in it's skeletal stage, but it will be equally worth seeing once it's complete.

Hope you enjoyed this review. I feel very fortunate to live near a City of Art?