DuSable Museum and MCA

May 29, 2009

DuSable Museum and MCA

I love the Chicago transit system. I spent a little time looking up which bus or train to take and then i was good to go. Today, i went back to the Shedd Aquarium because i wanted to exchange a t-shirt and get some keychains. There is a bus, the #146 that takes you directly to the Shedd Aquarium as well as to the Field Museum and the Adler Planetarium.it is so very convenient. I did my quick exchange and purchase, then took the #146 to transfer to the #4 Cottage Grove which took me to the DuSable Museum of African American History. It was quite a bus ride but interesting to see the cityscape. The museum is small,only $3.00 and worth the visit. I wanted to see the work of contemporary African American artists and to see the special exhbition, "Red, White, Blue, & Black: A History of Blacks in the Armed Services". Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed. To my surprise, there was a wonderful Henry Ossawa Tanner study in oil painting for "The Thankful Poor". This 17 in X 21 study was beautiful with vibrant brush strokes, reverent poses, composition and his light. It is one of my favorite paintings so i was very pleased to see it - well worth the long bus ride.

Back on the bus, the #55 took me to the Red line. I was dismayed to find the station in between the freeway which made it very windy and noisy...most unpleasant. No barriers to soften the harshness.

I got off at Chicago and walked a few blocks to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I wasn't that interested in going since the special exhibition is the work of Olafur Eliasson. The show originated from SFMOMA and i had seen it 3 times. Although, i did enjoy parts of it like the hallway with the bright yellow lights that makes everything and everyone look like they are in black & white. What attracted me was that they were showing the work of William Kentridge - he just had a retrospective in SF so i was wondering what else was there? It was nice to see his film and his drawings.

Also showing was the work/concepts of Buckminster Fuller. Imagine someone working toward the greater good and with the idea of "do no harm" to people and the planet. Fascinating exhibition but wouldn't that have been better suited at the Museum of Science and Industry?