02.04.05

Yesterday's visit to the MFAH did just what I needed it to do, lifted my spirits and wore me out. Kevin came by and we went together. He wanted to get out and about and wanted to visit the museum one last time before he moves. We went to look at art, of course, but ended up being more excited by the framing of the pieces and the work of the excellent display department.

In the front gallery of the Mies van der Rohe pavilion there was a large show of contemporary art from the African continent. I wasn't very taken by any of the art, but we were fascinated by the mobile walls that divided the space. Straight white walls that curved at the bottom of each side to create a floor level ledge that grounded the wall and kept viewers at a distance.

The newest addition to the museum is the Audrey Jones Beck building, across Main Street, and is accessible through a tunnel of ambient light that very slowly changes colors. You enter from behind a Plexiglas wall and enter down a runway where on each side the room drops lower and curves upwards and back to the ceiling. It was filled with the most pleasingly bizarre blue light. I always think of A Clockwork Orange when I pass through there. From this tunnel you enter a foyer that leads to the restaurant and escalators to the ground level.

The ground floor lobby ceiling must rise fifty feet or more. A very austere aptmosphere with the most remarkable limestone wall with prominent donor names laser engraved in a font resembling Trebuchet (the font used here). We took the escalator up and the simplicity of the space was remarkable. We toured a purple gallery of ancient Greek copper urns and marveled at the display units that housed them and the shadows some of the objects created on the walls. There is a great Cartier jewelry/object show housed in a giant black room. What a pleasure Mr. Cartier must have being able to design with no budget considerations. The jewelry cases were divided with illuminated panels of Cartier's watercolor designs. I am not much into jewelry but the exhibit is exquisite.

One of the most enjoyable things about the second floor of this new building is the way the architect used two windows to frame the outside landscapes. The light is diffused by white enameled ball chain and gives an illusion of an Impressionist painting. One scene was of a neighboring green tiled roof, the other larger one is of St Paul's Church in the Impressionist gallery. Just lovely.

Thank God there are benches to rest on because walking on those hard surfaces always makes my lower back freak out. I sat and stretched a couple of times before we left. Outside the building feels so unlike Houston, more like New York City or Chicago. I love that experience of being in the town I have come to call home and it suddenly feeling like another place.

From the museum we drove to the Rice University campus so Kevin could visit the bookstore and get a Rice tee shirt. It's been twenty years since he was a student there. It's a beautiful campus and the parking lots are removed from the main areas, keeping it aesthetically pleasing. We parked underground and got lost in the building trying to find our way out.

So, this all got me out of myself and I went home and took a nap. Today I feel a little more on target. All it took was some time to figure out the next right thing.