Welcome to New York Pt. 2- Hellloooooo Brooklyn!!!!

It ain’t hard to tell, I’m the new Jean-Michel, surrounded by Warhols my whole team ball!
— Jay Z- Picasso Baby
Outside the Jean-Michel Basquiat "Lost Notebooks" exhibit at Brooklyn Museum

Outside the Jean-Michel Basquiat "Lost Notebooks" exhibit at Brooklyn Museum

Where were we? Oh I just finished telling you about my first two days in NYC. This is part II of my "Welcome to New York City" blog post. So as I said in part 1, the highlight of my Birthday trip was Day 3 when we left Manhattan for Brooklyn. Brooklyn stand up!!! Brooklyn Go Hard! I was just having a hip-hop moment......I digress.

Day 3

Visited the Brooklyn Museum to see two fantastic exhibits! My life and this blog is about collecting experiences.  I am not an art expert and can probably be considered an art novice but I do LOVE art. As such my goal is to see with my own two eyes the best art in the world. I've visited the Louvre, D'Orsay, Vatican Museum and the British Museum to name a few and I must say Brooklyn Museum is one of my favorites. If I lived in New York, I would definitely be a member and visit several times a year. 

Cost:  Suggested cost $16. I love what they are doing and I was visiting from out of town so I paid the suggested price but I could have just as easily paid $1. 

Exhibits:

Kehinde Wiley’s: A New Republic-

I was first introduced to Wiley’s work a couple of years ago at the Minneapolis Institute of Art where I was mesmerized by Wiley's painting, Santos Dumont. Well, Santos Dumont was included with the 60 paintings and sculptures featured in this incredible exhibit. Wiley, known for his paintings which feature black men in positions of grander inspired by the European Masters took things to the next level by including art work featuring black women! His work questions our thoughts about gender, race and politics. This exhibit is totally worth the time. I love how accessible his work is. I invited a friend of mine who is a Brooklyn native and swore she was only at the museum because me “her pretentious California girlfriend” insisted she go was also inspired and impressed by Wiley’s art. Bottom line…..his work speaks to people! You don’t need to be an MFA to “get it”.

 

Santos Dumont

Santos Dumont

 Jean-Michel Basquiat- The Unknown Notebooks #basquiatnotebooks

This Brand new exhibit at Brooklyn Museum  features pages from Brooklyn’s own Jean-Michel Basquiat. Exhibit go-ers had an opportunity to read cryptic excerpts from journals which included themes like race, politics, history and class as well as related art works. A must see to contemporary art lovers, hip-hop heads and culture enthusiast .

 I was so impressed with both exhibits and just the overall cool vibe of the museum. They also have upcoming exhibits like the Rise of Sneaker Culture (July 10th- October 4, 2015) and FAILE: Savage/Sacred Young Minds also July 10th-October 4, 2015. If you happen to be in Brooklyn, check it out and let me know what you think!