If you know me, you know I am always ready to bliss out, but sometimes that is harder to do than other times. Sometimes I just want everything to be cute. I want cute so much sometimes that I don’t know what to do! So when I was looking for current exhibits to review, Happy! at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale caught my eye with its bold, iconic, smiling cloud. Cute! I’m in.
I
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And yet, before I even entered the exhibit, I starting thinking. In this world that appears to be self-destructing, when and how can we practice happiness? What makes us happy? What makes us escape? Do we need sadness in order to have happiness?
I placed a wish on the Wish Tree by favorite artist Yoko Ono, and walked inside.
Three big, happy clouds greeted me as I ascended the stairs.
Little Cloud
Then I saw a big pile of candy! CANDY!!
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
"Untitled" (Portrait of Dad), 1991
White candies individually wrapped in cellophane, endless supply
And a big stack of paper! PAPER!!
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
"Untitled", 1989/1990
Print on paper, endless copies
The museum guard told me I could take a paper. I took one of each. I’ll be making art with those papers later.
Such divine curation. I’ve seen similar exhibits at MoMA and the Guggenheim.
And I got to walk underneath a rainbow!
And all of these bows remind us that the December holidays are right around the corner!
Kathryn Andrews
Gift, 2011
Serigraphs
And. I saw. This.
Keith Haring
Untitled (Pink Smiling Face), 1981
Baked enamel on metal
It’s Keith Haring. KEITH HARING. In Fort Lauderdale. Yes, seriously. These are seriously impressive gets. I was floored and it was just beginning.
More Haring.
Keith Haring
Untitled (For Salvatore), 1984
Acrylic on glass
Remember when Target ripped this guy off a few years ago? I saw the balloon animals of Jeff Koons in person, baby!
Jeff Koons
Balloon Monkey (Blue), 2017
Balloon Rabbit (Red), 2017
Balloon Swan (Yellow), 2017
And the ultimate picture wall.
What did I think?
Alma Thomas
Night Sky Mysteries, 1973
Acrylic on canvas
This exhibit is so rich and complete. There is absolutely no way I could cover it in just one blog post. And there is so. much. more. to see and experience in this exhibit. If you are anywhere near South Florida before it closes on July 5, 2020 - GO!!
I am incredibly thankful for an enriching visit to the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale. I loved it so much, I bought a membership! I will definitely want to go back to this exhibit over and over again. It doesn’t close until July 5, 2020. That’s a lot of months to enjoy this amazing exhibit. See you on Instagram!
If you are interested in learning more about the thriving art scene in South Florida and also learning and making stuff, please join my mailing list. As always, thanks for reading the blog! Please leave your thoughts, ideas and questions in the comment section below & find your bliss wheresoever it is!
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