MOMA PS1 (Thursday Doors)

center me–
look beyond limits,
examine
and reflect–
virtuosity questions
expands opens mends

I thought I would highlight doors and art from my visit last summer to PS1, a branch of the Museum of Modern Art in Queens, since one of the shows I saw was the Melissa Cody weaving exhibit, which was the inspiration for my Kick-About collage this week, below.

Here’s another of Cody’s Spider Woman weavings.

Cody often combines the traditional techniques of her Navajo ancestors with modern motifs, as in another of my favorites in the show, “I Am Navajo Barbie”, below.

After the initial door, at the top, there are two more doors to go through before you get to the actual PS1 museum space.

First, a sidewalk flanked by courtyards which look like they are used for outdoor events.

And then a walk across another courtyard to the steps that lead up to the main doors.

You can easily tell from the inside of the building that this was once a school.

The other artist whose work I wanted to see that day was Pacita Abad. A Filipino-American artist and activist, she worked in many media, including textiles, and often included mask motifs.

My very favorite finds that day were these paper wall sculptures Abad created. I love everything about them.

What a fascinating life she had, traveling the world, working and teaching for human rights, and absorbing and incorporating into her own work the earth’s many traditional arts and cultures.

I was also enchanted by the staircases in the museum, which all included their own art.

My poem is an acrostic shadorma for Tanka Tuesday, where shadorma is the form chosen by Cheryl, and W3, where Jennifer asked for an acrostic using as both subject and acrostic some word related to “bond”. I chose “cleave” which is a word I’ve always liked because it has opposite meanings. Looking at art like this cleaves me in all senses.

You can read more about Melissa Cody and her exhibit at PS1 here.

And there’s a detailed biography and more art from the extraordinary Pacita Abad here.

And you can visit the PS1 website here. There’s a photo of the original school building on the about page, here.

And look for more doors, as always, at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.