Fort Worth Modern Museum of Art

Going to Fort Worth is always a delight for me because it's such a nice town and so close to Dallas. Its great museums make going there even more tempting. In my 5 years in Texas I have been to the Modern Museum of Fort Worth 5 times already. At least! Two weeks ago, I did it again. With my good friend Rachel who is a fellow artist and passionate museum goer - art dates are our favorite thing. I'd like to take you along on this now and show you bits of the permanent collection as well as the current show by Shirin Neshat that's on display through May 16th (remember I wrote about her here?)

The building was designed by Tadao Ando and opened in 2002. In 2019, the 'Architectural Digest' selected it as the best designed building in Texas (I agree with that decision). 

The outside art collection surrounding this superb building is very impressive too:

Richard Serra, 'Vortex', 2002

KAWS, 'Clean Slate', 2018

Roxy Paine, 'Conjoined', 2007

And to match the exterior, the vast permanent collection of the museum includes works by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Philip Guston, Anselm Kiefer, Ed Ruscha, Alex Katz...

Philip Guston, 'Painters Forms II',1978

There also seem to constantly be new acquisitions, like this sculpture, "The Seated III" by Wangechi Mutu from 2019.

And now to Shirin.

The Iranian-American was born in 1957 and has been mainly exploring her cultural heritage, the role of women in Iran and the complexities of Islam in her multi-medial oeuvre (photography, video, film). The FW Modern exhibit is called "I Will See the Sun Again", a title from a poem by Forugh Farrokhzad. The closeness to poetry is very evident in the exhibited portraiture, with the faces and hands of the photographed people covered in lyrical Persian writing.

The black and white images and the short films shown deal with historical events in Iran, the revolution and the aftermath, the impact they have made on people, especially women, and ultimately, with artistic and human essence. A touching, poetic body of work that does not need much translation nor explanation...

Have you been to the Modern yet? 

What do you think of Neshat's work?

Talk to you soon,

J.