Wednesday's Lunch Treat

My father's name was Bill and my mother's Virginia. So where did I stop for a late lunch in Richmond, VA yesterday? It's a no brainer! At Bill's Virginia Barbecue, I got the sliced pork combo featuring a melt in your mouth sliced pork sandwich on a white bun dressed in a hickory vinaigrette barbecue sauce and cole slaw. The side was a nasty basket of thick fries. A once in a lifetime experience...that is ONCE. Once is enough!

The entire waitstaff and kitchen crew was made up of middle aged African American women. And while I waited I was entertained by a lively discussion of the pros and cons of knee replacement surgery versus physical therapy. It was two customers attempting to influence their obese black cashier on her future surgical options. The white lady was all for surgery, the black man promoted PT. My order arrived, and I excused myself from the drama graciously... Although, I thought she ought to go for Laparoscopy, if it was available to her!

Art I'm Seeing #49, VMFA 01

The first reason to visit the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is to see the new addition. Named for the principle contributors, the new James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing opened to the public this past May 1, 2010. Always a wonderful regional museum, the expansion that included a new multilevel parking facility, sculpture garden and sloping hillside "amphitheater" transforms it into a major regional art museum.

The new addition creates an impressive 3 story atrium with glass elevators and glass enclosed causeways on various levels between the old and the new.

The space is designed as town commons with a nearly irresistible set of comfortable sets that quickly became the place some patrons found to await the arrival of others, or sit out their companion's visit to the expanded gift shop. Treated like another gallery the space included additional works from the series on display in the new sculpture gardens; as well as, affording the museum the perfect showplace for exhibiting large works of art like this by the late Sol LeWitt, entitled Splotch #22.



Areas within the new space our opened to the world without via glass walls giving you wonderful views of the new exterior landscaping, like the reflecting pools and sculpture gardens.

To inaugurate the E. Claiborne and Lora Robins Sculpture Gardens the VMFA has an exhibition featuring colossal sculpture by master ceramicist Jun Kaneko. Seen here from a second floor vantage point in the new atrium, the ability to enjoy the works of art from various angles and in the comfort of the climate controlled interior of the museum is assured.

And judging from the crowds I encountered today, the museum's popularity among Richmond's citizenry is a pretty sure bet, too. Always a personal favorite, at free to the public, it's a museum worth going out of your way to experience.

Art I'm Seeing #50, VMFA 02

The art collection of the VMFA is the other good reason to visit the museum.

And here are some of my favorite works from today's visit.

I have long loved the works of Rockwell Kent, and this image from his visits to Greenland is really a powerful example of his paintings from and about a seminal artistic and personal time in his life.

Charles Burchfield, a regional watercolorist and long time favorite of mine has this excellent mid-career work on display. In an accompanying quote, Burchfield journals about his fascination with houses and the way they seem to always be watching you as you walk through a neighborhood.

From here enter the 21st Century galleries and WOW.

This Kehinde Wiley portrait is simply stunning. The regal, yet playful bearing of the subject cast against faux velvet background creates an act of resilient joy. From the first time I saw one of Wiley's portraits, I was a fan. And this work marks only my second encounter with one in the flesh and it's an experience. The canvas is monumental in its proportions accentuating the idea that you are standing before royalty.

My first introduction to the meticulous paintings of Julie Mehretu was at an exhibit dedicated to her at the Berkeley Museum of Art in California back in the summer of 2003. Her works are intricate "maps" of floating geometric and iconic shapes and images. In some ways they remind of Al Held only gone 3D!

A final delightful find is this painting by Heidi Trepanier. The beauty is not in the confusion, but in the way her use of detail creates organic meaning in the face of random or chaotic circumstances. It's a fascinating and beautiful abstract painting.