Friday, March 5, 2010

Palm Springs Art Museum

I recently travelled to Palm Springs in search of art, inspiration and gallery representation. Downtown Palm Springs was like a Wild West ghost town when I arrived until I stumbled upon what looked like a deserted building, but was happy to discover the Palm Springs Art Museum. Inside I was greeted with some keen staff welcoming me to Palm Springs best kept secret. It is a small museum, about the size of the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, Canada. The museum houses a small but impressive art collection thanks to donors such as Frank Sinatra and Donna & Cargill MacMillan Jr.  The MacMillan's have donated the majority of their contemporary and pop art collection to the Museum and it is a collection to be envious of...pieces such as Your Dog, by Yoshitomo Nara, Twin 6' Hearts by Jim Dine and Andy Warhol's Brillo Box dress...I was absorbing every minute in front of these amazing pieces I had only seen in print...Perhaps the most impressive or at least the piece that was causing the most unusual and shocking resctions was that of figurative sculptor, John De Andrea. I was admiring a 'Pile' (a pile of bronze Glad garbage bags) when I did a quick turn to move on and found myself staring at a young nude woman, at first I shyly glanced away and then back again in disbelief, was this a mannequin model? Was there a camera somewhere filming me and my response? As I inched closer I noticed a security guard hiding in the corner, watching intently, almost amused by my inquisitive stance. I finally came close enough to lean over and face the woman eye to eye, I noticed no pulse in the neck and she looked quite stiff and cold, then I read the plaque....I had been duped! I was grinning ear-to-ear, what a great experience, and an engaging piece. 'Joan' was created in 1990 by artist John De Andrea - oil on polyester resin with synthetic hair has never looked so real or so beautiful. I highly recommend making a trip to the museum if you are in Palm Springs. There is also a Contemporary Glass Exhibit on now which takes glass to a whole other level of which I have never experienced and was pleasently surprised. Palm Springs Arts Museum Website