by May Monten

Created on: June 26, 2008   Last Updated: November 02, 2011

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is better than ever, as I discovered on a trip in June, 2008. Several galleries are new, and renovation continues on others.

You can't see everything in the Museum on a single visit; it is far too big. I recommend grabbing a map at the Information Desk, and sitting down with it and thinking about which special exhibits and which parts of the permanent collection you most want to see. Serendipity will still come into play, because as you wander through the museum looking for your selected exhibits, you will be walking through areas that you hadn't planned on seeing and may not have even known existed. Some may grab your attention, and set you off on rewarding side trips.

On my last visit, I saw three special exhibits: "Jeff Koons on the Roof," "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," and "Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960." I'm not a huge fan of Jeff Koons, though I did like his huge puppy made of flowers that I saw being installed in Rockefeller Center several years ago. Earlier, when I had seen a retrospective of his work at the San Francisco MOMA, I was underwhelmed. On the Metropolitan's roof, he had three sculptures made of shiny metal, one a red heart, one an indecipherable hodge-podge, and one, the cutest, meant to look like a dog made out of balloons. There's a great view of the city from the roof, so even if you don't care much about the sculpture, it's worth going up there for that alone. The exhibit ran through 10/26/08.

"Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" was a fantastic show that I recommend wholeheartedly. It focuses on the costumes of comic-book superheroes, and the high-fashion designers who were inspired by them. A typical exhibit in the show showed a recreation of a comic-book costume (often one that was designed for a movie), surrounded by the high-fashion outfits which are interesting variations of the original. For example, one designer did a version of Superman's costume, but substituted his own initial for Superman's "S." Another designer kept the "S," but made it look like graffiti. In the background of each exhibit was art from the comic books, hugely enlarged.

This was a wonderful show for anyone interested in comics or anyone interested in fashion. I saw a lot of children at the show who were enthralled. I enjoyed reading the wall text which applied typical art-speak to comic books, though I noticed most people were skipping it, and it certainly isn't necessary to enjoyment at what you're seeing. At the end of the show, they displayed the covers of the comic books in which the superheroes made their first appearance. This show ran through 9/1/08.

The final special exhibit I saw, "Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960," was a relatively small show, in a single room, which sampled different modern photographers working in a self-reflexive mode. There was a larger photography show right across the hall, focusing on the other end of the time spectrum, from 1840-1940, which looked interesting, but I didn't have the time.

I also enjoyed seeing the mummies, and the light-filled European sculpture court, and the Temple of Dendur.

There are several places to eat in the Museum. I ate in the main cafeteria, downstairs. It's a bit overpriced, but the food is good. They have a nice salad bar, which is what I had, and also sandwiches, entrees, and sushi to choose from. If you want a souvenir or gifts, the gift shops have a great selection.

Admission is a "suggested" $20. The Museum is closed on Mondays. I strongly recommend going, even if you've been there many times before.

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