Balzer Designs

July 2017 at the Whitney Museum

While we went to the Whitney specifically to see the Calder exhibit, we certainly weren't going to skip the rest of the museum!  Take a peek at just a little bit of what we saw:

Anyone else get Benedict Cumberbatch vibes from this guy? I think it's the nose.

This is definitely the most interesting stairwell in the world.  I don't always volunteer to take the stairs, but I did at this museum!

The Whitney is a stunning building, nevermind the art. The views from their outside terraces are awesome.  It turns the whole of New York City into art!

Now that I don't live in NYC, I feel fine about posing with the Empire State Building.  ;)


Believe it or not, this was my very first time at the "new" Whitney.  I think they moved locations 3 years ago?  I don't know what took me so long.  I really enjoyed it!

Have you been to the Whitney?  What did you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Calder at The Whitney

Several weeks ago I visited the The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City to see the Alexander Calder Hypermobility exhibit on the top floor.  You may remember that I posted about wanting to go and see it back in June.  I'm so glad that I was able to make the trip to NYC to do it!

What is this huge crowd staring at?  Each day a curator comes to "activate" several of the sculptures -- different ones each time.  Sometimes you'll see people standing in front of a Calder mobile or sculpture and blowing on it as hard as they can to try to get it to move.  For this exhibit, the Whitney does the blowing for you. Or rather, they take a big stick and push the objects into motion.  You can see some of them in motion here.

I had previously seen a very impressive collection of Calder's work at SFMoMA (I posted about it here) and so I was somewhat underwhelmed by the size and scope of this exhibit.  Nevertheless, I had never seen Calder's work truly in motion (more than a huff and a puff's worth) and that was an enormous treat!

I often talk about the museumification of art.  Calder's work is obviously meant to move and it seems so sad to me that it no longer does.  It was great to get a full sense of the work by seeing it dance!

Have you ever seen a Calder in motion?  I'd love to hear about the experience!  Thanks for stopping by!

Trend Spotting at ABC Home

I've posted about ABC Home many times before.  It's an amazing home goods store in New York City.  Every time I go there, I find myself inspired.  The vendors at ABC Home are definitely wired into what's hot right now in high end design.  So, I love to use a stroll through the store as research & education on what's trending. 

I look for:

• Colors/Color Combinations
• Patterns
• Lettering Styles/Fonts
• Display Ideas
• Attitude/Style

What trends do you see when you look through these photos?

Obviously I didn't take photos of everything.  I took photos of the things that interested me.  So, the sample may be a little skewed.  But, this is what I see:

• Colors/Color Combinations: Reds, pinks -- hot colors with denim blue accents.
• Patterns: Organic & tribal.
• Lettering Styles/Fonts: Very handwriting/hand lettering oriented.
• Display Ideas: A lot of bringing natural elements into display -- twigs, leaves, flowers.  Also vintage and worn wooden items as display cases.
• Attitude/Style: Whimsical, female power, clean, organic, outdoor garden.

Do you agree or disagree?

I think we all see the same things differently, so I'd love to know what trends you see!

Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction at MoMA

One more post about the permanent collection at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art).  Again, MoMA has so much art in their basement that they can fill the museum many times over with amazing stuff.  Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction pulls work by women from MoMA's permanent collection.  As you know, I'm very interested in abstract painting, but I struggle with it.  This exhibit was inspiring and exciting and I'm not sure that it mattered that the art was created by women, but I was delighted that it had been!  I discovered some new-to-me women artists who I want to research a bit more!

I was particularly inspired to read the signs indicating that many of these women artists began their painting careers late in life!  It's never too late!

What do you think?  See a new favorite?  There's a master list of the exhibit objects HERE.  You can see the piece, the artist's name, and a bit of information about the piece.

Thanks for stopping by!

Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collection at MoMA

Up on the sixth floor of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) is a very wonderful exhibit of new work.  It's all work that has been created in the last decade and that MoMA owns (back to that permanent collection thing from yesterday).  I don't always love contemporary art, but this was a truly inspiring set of galleries.  Take a peek:

I love this combination of drawing and collage!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back tomorrow with one more peek at MoMA!