nyc: day 2, sunday

today was simple: slept late, hit the gym, and then saw the gorgeous martin kippenberger and paul graham exhibits at moma.

i loved martin's photo-realism paintings and his series of 10 photos from the mid-1980s. i admittedly don't understand his work very well, but i felt physically blown away from the force and velocity of his creativity. i could tell that this guy didn't sleep much and did nothing but his art at full speed ahead his entire life. pretty inspiring.

i also saw my favorite jasper johns flag painting and a jackson pollock that i absolutely love (i can't find a photo of it!) which i visit every time i'm at moma.

paul's work is simply divine: multiple small distinct series of everyday boring moments turned magical by (in my opinion) a spectacular understanding of the liminal moment and the idea of capturing sheer moments of pause and possibility. i had two favorite series. the first was one of of a sunset scene: it started with 3-4 almost identical sunset photos then followed by 4-6 photos of two local kids playing one-on-one basketball in the street just as the light is being lost for the day. the last photos are very dark and feel so real i could almost smell the summer air. the second series was of a man mowing grass on the edge of a large hillside in what looked like los angeles. in one of the photos, grass clippings are showered in the air and have caught the light like specs of glitter. as i said, completely divine. the installation was also perfect for the work: multiple print sizes ranging from about 8x10 to 20x24 and placed in a somewhat horizontal line across the wall (like reading a story) but vertically staggered in a haphazard pattern. i can't imagine feeling the same way i did about the work without this presentation. if you're anywhere within 100 miles of nyc, go see this exhibit immediately!

the most exciting part for me personally? the fact that i'm meeting with paul's rep this week to show them my work! fingers crossed!

7 meetings tomorrow. i'm planning to rock them all!