Michele Janka in front of Monekana by Deborah Butterfield. "Monekana" is Hawaiian for Montana. Today my mom and I went to the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery in D.C. The museums exist together in the same building, hence the backslash. Since the building was closed for many years and only reopened in 2006, I had never seen it, but I think it may be the best thing the Smithsonian has to offer. There is SO much in there. Maybe it is just me, but given that there is a short bio next to each portrait, I found the exhibits more interesting than those most I've seen in the National Gallery, Renwick or Hirshorn. The Corcoran is one of my favorites, especially for interesting photography exhibits, but it isn't free and it is probably 1/4th the size of the Portrait Gallery. (The Corcoran does have a sweet William Eggleston exhibit now that I saw in one of the seven cities I was in last year. I know his name is written in one of my tiny notebooks somewhere. If you're in the D.C. area and you have $10 to spare, you should totally go. Eggleston hails from Memphis and his images are striking and very American, without being overly sentimental, patriotic or accusatory. It's just a solid show.)
Out of fear of expensive parking tickets, my mom and I only spent two hours in the Portrait Gallery. However, I'm pretty sure it has two full days worth of exhibitions between the permanent collection and the special exhibitions. I think Shepard Fairey's Obama is the most recent acquisition but there is a solid contemporary collection, including a beautiful portrait of the recently deceased Eunice Kennedy Shriver, on the beach with some Special Olympians.
I've included it here:
It is an incredible work of photo-realism. Looking at it, you just want to stroke her wild white hair. There was a great Henry Kissinger painting that I wish I'd stolen a picture of and I can't seem to find it online. Really, there are tons of gems in there.
Here is Thelonious Monk, looking like the badass he was:
And an unfinished G Dubs:
After narrowly avoiding a parking ticket, we drove to Capitol Hill and visited Eastern Market. I hadn't seen it since it caught fire and was renovated. It is pretty much the same as I remember it but the counters are now especially tall, which leads to strained and sometimes hilarious interactions between the merchants and customers. My mother, being Belgian, felt the need to comment on the inconvenience as we purchased a quarter pound of serrano (Spanish mountain ham). According to butcher, a guy is going to come lower them next week. It was a strange Alice in Wonderland-type situation where the people and the environment just didn't match in size.
(After seeing this photo of Helena Bonham Carter in full costume as the Queen of Hearts, I'm very excited to see the new Tim Burton fashioning of the Lewis Carroll classic. I cannot decide if I am more excited for Alice in Wonderland or Where the Wild Things Are. Apparently, appealing to people's childhood memories is a way to make them spend money during economic crisis. I'd like to think Tim Burton and Spike Jonze aren't that capitalist but maybe they are. P.S. Spike's real name is Adam Spiegel. I would have changed it too.)
Some highlights from Eastern Market. Yes, that sign does say "Lobster and Crawfish Ravioli."
In other news, I started a personal twitter account. I had a lot of fun tweeting and following organizations via the Green Corps account and I figure it can be an extension of this blog. I look forward to using the twittersphere to both examine the culture around it and write creative short fiction in blocks of 140 characters or less. You can follow at twitter.com/jankstarr
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