The other day, I did something I should do more often – I visited the Asian Art Museum and was reminded, yet again, what makes it such a special place for me. It’s not just the shows – and the current headliner is “Bali – Art, Ritual, Performance” (through September 11) – that entrance me. It is the sense of peace and solitude that I enjoy. I am in a haven, as I slowly pace the low-lit, spacious galleries full of deities, jade, netsuke, carvings, statues, weapons, textiles, furniture, scrolls, pottery, paintings … and every once in a while, a restful grouping of low-backed sofas. This last visit, I was carrying a copy of the book of poetry for which Kay Ryan has just won the Pulitzer, so I sat for a while over a couple of poems and then moved on. I felt – comfortably so – as if I were the only person in the museum or even in the city. I ended my visit meditating in my favorite place of all -- the quiet alcove that contains the stone water-feature “Tsukuba” by Izumi Masatochi. I hesitate to call the work a fountain, as there is seemingly no movement in the water in the basin and certainly no sound – but the tranquil energy of its fluid element is palpable. As for the Bali show, of all the treasures on exhibit there, I was most taken with a continuous loop videotape display of a traditional cremation ceremony. I had just come from a Catholic funeral, so I was in the right frame of mind to ponder questions of belief, religion, culture and the afterlife. The atmosphere at the Asian somehow encourages this. Another key take-away was “Here Not Here – Buddha Present in Eight Recent Works” (through October 23), dedicated to the Buddhist notion of impermanence. |
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