...last Friday I ended up in the ER due to this crappy combo flu, but after they gave me a couple of shots I bounced back (or so I thought). Got a crazy new boost of energy and ran uptown to meet one of my friends at the Met and see the Bacon exhibit. The collection of works is stupendous. He was so brilliant. His pain, his passion, his need to show the raw reality of his friends in their portraits, it was all just so beautiful. I love his personal translation of photos into wild explosions of darkness and color in both the physical paint and the content. Bacon's obsession with carrying on relationships with controlling and potentially violent men is very intriguing. His depictions of these men were even more so. He seemed to be a submissive in some aspects to the lovers he chose but then his beautifully grotesque and warped portraits seem to negate the submissive side and make him the dominant in the relationship. Just my personal drabbles on the matter. Anyway, had a great time at the show. Was great to walk through the exhibit with a friend that actually enjoyed and got the show too and was not trying to impart their own artwork into the mix. So often when I've gone to shows, I've gone with a visual artist that always has to throw their own art into the dialogue. It's almost like they cannot look at anyone else's art for the wonderment that it is and their life must always be the center. This doesn't include all the artists I know but a good handful. Anyway, if you're in New York or nearby...check out the exhibit. It's well curated and the documentation photos are a wonderful inclusion. I just wish someone would clean the glass/plexi on the works. The smudges are a bit annoying. I know the Met has had budget cuts, but come on...it's the Bacon show...certainly you can find someone to clean the place.
Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective
Through August 16, 2009
Francis Bacon (British, 1909 - 1992)
Head VI, 1949
Oil on canvas; 36 11/16 x 30 1/8 in. (93.2 x 76.5 cm)
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London
2009 The Estate of Francis Bacon / ARS, New York / DACS, London
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