Focus Exhibitions at MoMA

I don't want to say I'm growing older, but my approach to multi-room blockbuster exhibitions--much as I adore them--has changed over the years. I used to move quickly through big shows, taking everything in at once with voracious eyes, greedy for more and buying the tee-shirt. Now, it seems, I have to pace myself, both physically and mentally, and make pit-stops to refuel and not look at art for a few minutes. It's a case of calorie/caffeine deficit v. sensory overload ... and, yes, of course. Resting one's feet isn't ever the worst idea, though the tee-shirt might be.

Point being: I love smaller, more intimate shows that overwhelm me *only* with quality. Remember Parmigianino's Antea, on view earlier this year at The Frick Collection? If Antea sounds as appealing to you as it did to me, you'll want to know this: several times each year The Museum of Modern Art, New York mounts exhibitions whose titles begin with "Focus." These are small in scale and comprised of works from MoMA's own collection. Best of all, the Focus series enables the viewer to do exactly that: to focus--on a single artist, medium, time, place, theme or contrast. Very refreshing, these opportunities to concentrate on one idea and use it to analyze a handful of works. Take a look at the image gallery for Focus: Ad Reinhardt and Mark Rothko, and you'll see what I mean.

P.S. Don't forget that MoMA admission is free for all visitors during Target Free Friday Nights, sponsored by Target, every Friday evening, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Image credit:

Mark Rothko (American, b. Latvia, 1903-1970)
No. 5/No. 22, 1950 (dated on verso 1949)
Oil on canvas
117 x 107 1/8 in. (297 x 272 cm)
Gift of the artist
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
© 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York