October 9, 2016
This is a post highlighting MOPASD’s Animal in Photography exhibit, which happens to be great for kids too.
Today I had my younger two kids to myself so I decided to take in an exhibit I heard about on NPR called Beauty and the Beast | The Animal in Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego (or “MOPASD”).
I don’t commonly take my littlest ones to proper art exhibits, because the idea of looking at pictures on a wall and weighing in on their deeper meaning still strikes me as a little esoteric for 8-10 year-olds. You can see, above, an example of the physical exuberance that might be frowned upon in a quiet museum with highly-valued works of art on the wall.
That said, I heard the subject was animals, and I knew this would pull them into the conversation a little more, so we gave it a go. The portrait above had a nondescript title by an Australian artist. I asked my son if he knew what the girl in the photo was holding in her hand and he very excitedly told me, “a boomerang!” I then wondered aloud, since there was no description on this piece, whether the fawn was sleeping or whether the girl had hunted it with that boomerang? Hopefully this is not me projecting too much, but I was guessing it had been hunted because the fawn’s eyes were open, yet it was hanging limply over her shoulders. He agreed that this must be what was pictured.
The works on display really run the gamut, but they are all great conversation starters. The kids insisted that this was a photo of a Savannah cat just like our Gretel, and I had to agree:
This portrait, of a man and dog in Namibia, probably depicts a bad dog! Or at least one prone to biting. God I hope it’s not a hyena.
There were some stunning bird pictures. My middle child tried to make a bid for having this one installed in her room:
Or this one.
As usual, some of the loveliest were still lifes. Here, a pheasant.
If you have a child in your home who is obsessed with cats and plays cello, this may be the piece for her.
Today was already a very Anthropomorphic day for me as I had just read this article about how the scientific community is in a bit of “Anthropodenial” these days. Then we saw this exhibit. It prompted great discussion points and emphasized again to me our difficulty – as humans – relating fairly to animals.
The following are a couple of cat portraits. Not paintings! Fancy portraits, as though they are a proper lady and gentleman.
I mean you can really see why the kids would love this stuff.
The other major exhibit now at MOPASD is another treat: it is called Animals Among Us: 11th Annual Youth Exhibition. I paid particular attention to some pieces by our local Poway kids.
Afterward we had lunch and spied on the koi and mallards.
And then saw Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which should be the cherry on top of the cake for fueling their bizarre dreams this evening!
Thanks for looking and happy art-walking!
xo
