I felt very arty on Monday. With a little snark thrown in for good measure. In the spirit of the season, I vote for the snark first.
It was a beautiful day, and I'm definitely glad I took the opportunity for a ride downtown. I took the long way around by the Lincoln Memorial because they're still working on the GW between the 14th Street bridge and the Pentagon. If they'd hurry up and finish that work I'd be ever so grateful.
But that little detour gave us the first picture of the day:
What's so special about this sign? Nothing really, until you zoom out a bit:
Yeah, that's the Washington Monument in the background. Seriously? It's a state law to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks? In the District? Who the hell put these signs up? Now I'm thinking it could have been the Park Service because this is right next to the Lincoln Memorial, but c'mon folks, put down the pipe and get it right. Anyway, just to illustrate how nice a day it was, I give you a nice shot of a bendy Washington Monument. I really like my new little digital, but it does have a habit of curving straight lines. Still, it was a great day for a ride.
On to the National Gallery. I started off with the old masters, but didn't take any pictures 'cause I didn't want the docent's to put a boot in my ass. I headed over to the East Wing where they had a exhibition of some more modern art.
A Jackson Pollock. I know I've said, "Hell, I could do that."
Of course I could, but Pollock did it first and did it best.
This one I could have done. This is not art. This is spilling a gallon of
beige paint on a canvas. I didn't bother getting the artist's name.
Jasper Johns' "Dancers on a Plane." This is pretty cool.
Especially up close. Really close. (Also not the bent frame, not the fault
of the Gallery, my camera again. Doh!)
Gerhard Richter's "Abstract Painting 780-1." I liked this
one too. It would look great in my living room.
Elizabeth Murray's "Careless Love." Infer what you want.
I know what I think it looks like.
This is a view of Sol Lewitt's "Wall Drawing #65. Lines not short, not straight, crossing and touching, drawn at random using four colors, uniformly dispersed with maximum density, covering the entire surface of the wall." Yeah, that's the whole title. It's a pretty cool piece covering a wall about 20 feet tall by 30 feet long. Here's a close-up:
The picture below is one of the last ones I took. The light was dim, making the image very soft and when I cropped it a bit it kind of reminded me of an Edward Hopper. A solitary person who's identity is unknown. The figure, colors and white walls just kinda work.
Well, that's the end of my day off. It's back to work today, but as Thomas Crown said "I just like my haystacks." 
8 comments:
We got statehood? No one told me.
Betcha they'd've had to spend extra bucks for a sign that said "District Law", but some sign maker had tons of "State Law" signs on discount in a pile by the dumpster.
Tino - It was in the Post's classified section last week, didn't ya see it?
Snay - They were paying by the letter, and a "state" gets a 30 percent discount.
I liked the Careless Love piece - very cool looking art.
lol at the State Law sign, come on its DC what do you expect.
Thanks for the art pics.
For just a few cents more, the signs could say, "Colony law."
And I love, love, LOVE it when I see those signs in the middle of an intersection...covered in tire marks.
Zip - It is pretty neat, but it was about 8 feet tall and reminded me of a...well...c'mon...
Shan - I see a guerrilla art project in our future. Or, perhaps a gorilla art project where we all dress up as primates and change all the signs in the District to read "Colony.
Look at you, being all artsy and cultured and shit. Are you trying to make up for all the debauchery this weekend?
LiLu - I've personally turned debauchery into an art form. In truth, I just needed to get out on my bike and off my couch.
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