as if i know art , i do know what i like, and it works for me.

Free Thursday in Akron

      Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Akron Art Museum in Akron oh. on One south High St. in Akron Ohio, or about as downtown as one can get. It is close to Quaker square if you remember that in its heyday. The building stretches almost a city block and it consists of modern chrome and steel and concrete cantilevered structure morphed onto an older more stylistic urban building. The architecture works but at times seems to have the galleries in revolt to each other much like the contrast between modern art, and contemporary art of which I feel is under represented in this gallery. It would seem as if we have a lot more history, and period painting that should be representative of most galleries.

     At the Akron Art Museum the focus seems to be on modern art, with the majority of the gallery space devoted to modern art. This is ok but there are times when I like to relax when viewing paintings and let the colors wash the stress out of my soul. Too visually transport you to that place the painter saw fit to share with you. It requires no real thinking but more enjoying that snapshot of someone’s mind. To me this is realism painting and I enjoy just viewing.

    At times the modern art can soothe but mostly it is a raw medium that requires a lot of input to try and figure out just where the artists mind was at while he was creating his so called masterpiece. Maybe it is a sign of the times, but I hardly feel arranging pieces of Styrofoam in a row or possibly invading the middle of a gallery with twelve partially filled bottles of colored water signifies much more to me than someone caught with their pants down pulling an all-nighter and barely squeaking through a demonstration exhibition with some hastily acquired trash that happened to be sitting around. It’s as if  it is up to the museum to make sure the artist is featured whether he deserves it or not and of course the artist shows up with a garbage can full of mementos of his failed attempt at really making a difference. I hate to be harsh and critical especially being an artist myself, but it is beyond me how that can be interpreted as anything but a waste of time and effort. Still at that there are redeeming exhibits one should see and try and keep an open mind.

     There was one art exhibit that comes to mind when I think of what I had viewed while I was there and that was the Imelda Marcos room as I called it. It was here that several pairs of shoes were embedded behind opaque glass in the wall offering different styles of high heels past. It lent itself to an earlier time in our life when high heels were of prominence and signified a classier time. The obscured view to me lent itself to times past and signified a used theme to the exhibition. Again too much thinking is required to ever make this less than a painful experience trying to figure it all out when there may be no good reason other than someone’s morbid fascination with used high heel shoe smell, having the aroma of the painted leather forever locked into the wall. Ok , but down here on the farm we have a word for those people. Actually two words. City folks. 

    It is my understanding that every Thursday is free Thursday at the Akron Art museum and they also feature musical artists and we enjoyed a free outdoor concert by Anne E. Deschant, originally a local artist who now calls Nashville home, but hails from Avon Lake, Oh.. I liked her sound, and would enjoy seeing her again as she was quite a lively performer and more than my money’s worth at free. New artists are featured weekly, and Anne brought in over a couple of hundred viewers to an outside lawn and pavilion seating. Be sure and bring your own chair to this event as it filled up quickly. The parking is free and except for your food and drinks everything else is free. It is an enjoyable although grating experience at times, a blend of visual and musical art. Coupled with a dinner at some nice restaurant, it would surely make for an interesting change of pace for all who visit. Free Thursdays at Akron, you can’t beat the price

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links: http://akronartmuseum.org/- akron art museum - copy and paste.
        www.anneedechant.com- anne e, dechant home page