The Museum of Modern Art was featuring two exhibitions while we visited NYC:
Francis Alÿs: A Story of Deception
May 8–August 1, 2011
For me the works raised questions about the pointlessness of some human pursuits; the example of a number of young people joining together on a sand dune and digging for hours in what turned out to be a fairly futile exercise to me encourages viewers to question their actions. The artist recorded the participants recalling their experience of having worked so hard and the feeling of having done so much but when they looked at the sand dune their labour had been in vain, there was no visible change. It seems to me that sometimes the amount of time we spend on activity seems to be disproportionate to the result.
German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse
March 27–July 11, 2011
Powerful woodcuts of Max Beckmann, prints of Emile Nolde and works of the famous Expressionist Kandinsky were key to this exhibition.
MOMA, NYC
