The Palmer Art Museum Visit

Friday was my first visit to the Penn State's own art museum, The Palmer Art Museum. It is a very small building but even the exterior is enticing. The large lion paws right in front are overpowering the rest of the architecture of the museum. I enjoyed my visit because there as a large range of what could be seen in this small place. There are two floors. The first floor consists mostly of ceramics, some asian prints, European paintings with large biblical focuses. The second floor consisted of more contemporary art. There was a larger range of mixed media and ranging time periods. There were portraits from the early American artists as well as photographs done by artists as late as the late 20th century and early 21st century. I enjoyed the second floor much more than the first because I enjoy the pop-art era and use of bright colors. There was more opportunity to see more cheerful paintings upstairs.

The painting that struck me most in the museum was actually the last one I sat down to look at. I spent forty minutes wandering the museum hoping to find something that I could find myself writing about. I took pictures of multiple other large and colorful paintings but in the end "Private Lives" by Roy De Forest was my favorite. It is acrylic on canvas and was created in 1981. I think I didn't notice it until as I was making my way out because when you just glance at it all you see are bright colors that are very confusing and almost blinding. As I looked deeper the shapes used in this painting were very interesting. The longer I looked the more figures I was able to make out from the brushstrokes of the artist. The center of the painting is a naked woman, which took me a long time to figure out because she is very abstract. She is sitting on a bed while the outskirts are filled with men who are formed from strange colors and interesting choices of shapes. One man has a square head and is dark red. This painting most definitely tells a story. The most important moral I believe that is coming through in this painting is the fact that there are never any secrets within a community. The use of faces on the inanimate objects shows how there is no privacy and nothing is a secret. The setting is a very private place (a bedroom) but there seems to be so many people and other beings, such as dogs, that have an inside look into this scene. The man who seems to be inside the bedroom is the only one who is smiling. The rest of the men are angry and seem judgmental. 

There doesn't seem to be any political situation in which the painting is centered because it was created in 1981 but there is credibility with the artist's name. Roy De Forest is known for pushing the boundaries for artists. He is known as "an artist's artist." His works are narratives in themselves which using the most interesting mediums and pushing the creative bounds to show his own original style.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Palmer. It was a positive experience. I love to go to museums because I live near New York City and it's a relaxing way to just spend an afternoon. I could see myself going back in order to get away from the craziness that can be my new dorm life. It's a calmer escape from the loud and insane life of freshman living on campus and it gives me a taste of home.