Art, Stars and All That Glitters
If this is is your first visit here, I invite you to scroll back through the past art week for a journey of synchronicity (meaningful coincidence). There were a number of meaningful coincidences during my recent visit to The Met. The more we become aware of them, the more they seem to happen.
I happened to wear one of my favorite bracelets that day. It's a reproduction from The Met's collection but I'd never seen the original despite dozens of visits. Whenever I visit a large museum I have a rough plan of what I want to see and then usually implementing Plan B. Plan B is following my nose.
On this visit, I zigged instead of zagged and found myself in an empty, dimly lit room filled with glittering gold objects. Not all the glitters is gold but these beauties were. Solid gold. From across the room, I recognized it. My bracelet. The real deal. While my bracelet looked the same, it didn't have the same energy as the original. The same way that a print of a painting never captures the essence or magic of the original.
The same could be said of talented famous people in any number of arts. The last thing I expected that day was to meet one of those famous originals in person.
I love people watching and especially people watching art. Sitting or standing, still or in motion they remind me of sculptures. I wanted to create an image, where the art, and the people blurred into a new art form. Little did I know someone was watching me. There I was leaning over the glass partition, framing my shot with a smile on my face. The soft afternoon light streamed in over my shoulder. Nothing could have made me happier in that moment. I felt eyes on me and swiveled my head to the left. Many famous people exude an energy as soon as they walk into a room. I felt it before I saw him. Our eyes locked. The flicker of recognition. Tony Bennett, the iconic singer but also a talented painter. He knew I knew and kept moving. I could have stopped him and asked for an autograph but why spoil the moment. We were two artists who appreciated each other for a quintessential New York moment. It was enough.
I happened to wear one of my favorite bracelets that day. It's a reproduction from The Met's collection but I'd never seen the original despite dozens of visits. Whenever I visit a large museum I have a rough plan of what I want to see and then usually implementing Plan B. Plan B is following my nose.
On this visit, I zigged instead of zagged and found myself in an empty, dimly lit room filled with glittering gold objects. Not all the glitters is gold but these beauties were. Solid gold. From across the room, I recognized it. My bracelet. The real deal. While my bracelet looked the same, it didn't have the same energy as the original. The same way that a print of a painting never captures the essence or magic of the original.
The same could be said of talented famous people in any number of arts. The last thing I expected that day was to meet one of those famous originals in person.
I love people watching and especially people watching art. Sitting or standing, still or in motion they remind me of sculptures. I wanted to create an image, where the art, and the people blurred into a new art form. Little did I know someone was watching me. There I was leaning over the glass partition, framing my shot with a smile on my face. The soft afternoon light streamed in over my shoulder. Nothing could have made me happier in that moment. I felt eyes on me and swiveled my head to the left. Many famous people exude an energy as soon as they walk into a room. I felt it before I saw him. Our eyes locked. The flicker of recognition. Tony Bennett, the iconic singer but also a talented painter. He knew I knew and kept moving. I could have stopped him and asked for an autograph but why spoil the moment. We were two artists who appreciated each other for a quintessential New York moment. It was enough.
Posted by Layla Morgan Wilde at 2/4/2012 12:05 AM 
Categories: Design, Baby Boomers, New York, Shopping, Photography, Art
Tags: art-stars-all that glitters met-art-snake-bracelet-fashion
Categories: Design, Baby Boomers, New York, Shopping, Photography, Art
Tags: art-stars-all that glitters met-art-snake-bracelet-fashion
Amazing the gold bracelet; I've seen them, but never had one.
And Anthony Bennedetto! Amazing. I am sure he appreciated not being hounded.... NY is great for famous people watching.
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It was one of my best days in ages.
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Wonderful. We don't have quite the same panache in Boston; not as many famous people per square foot and not as many famous famous pieces of art. But we have Harvard Square; cn't think of many things we have that are unique - Back Bay is like parts of Manhattan and our Cape Ann and Cape Cod and the Vineyard are like greater NY, since Nantucket really was part of NY. But Harvard Square is unique... and we have more movies being filmed here than previously - the tax rate was changed to make it more favorable.
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You have the fab Gardner museum.
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Yes, truly fab. And Hammond Castle. Boston is like a mini Manhattan. I would be so annoyed if I lived in NYC and also annoyed to live in the burbs, either CT or NJ or Westchester. Just too much hassle. Spoiled by SLC, Montreal and TO and Boston - not too diff to get around. Though I think TO might be very different now; have seen the traffic jams, now that the metro area is 5.5 million, puts it nearly at Chicago levels 3/7 million, inner and suburban, respectively. Gets too large. And Montreal's traffic jams now are def annoying. Boston is annoying enough with 4 million greater Bos (halfway up to NH and halfway to the Cape) out of 6 million; I just don't want to add any more traffic misery. When we were there for a week in 06 and stayed in Ardmore, Westchester, it was hell to get in via Yonkers. And in O8 when we drove to Pratt and back in a day - twice - the jams were annoying.
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Priceless photograph. Illustrates your text perfectly. The couple sitting lethargically with the bored look on their faces at the right hand bottom are definitely wondering: What happened?
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