I love art.
Especially art that is on exhibit in a free art gallery.
But there have been times when I look at something and wonder how it is even called art.
It is almost a waste of time and space to see what someone calls “art” when it is not.
This division between what we consider to be art and what we see as a scribble by someone whose talent is equal to my grandkids has led to a reluctance from my wife to visit art galleries.
There have been some terrible art that we have witnessed over the year.
A new rule is that art has to be free to see before we enter a gallery. We have discovered that the sites we pay to enter can sometimes have the worst “art” to see. We have paid for a few locations and regretted it deeply.
But then some galleries have been absolutely fantastic.
Our favourite is the Toledo Museum of Art, an impressive building filled with impressive art. Yes, they had a contemporary art gallery, but even in those, they were art that we would consider to be art. Plus, it was free to enter. A huge museum of art that we spent two hours in and wished we had more time.
The Art Gallery of Ontario was nice. Although entry into it is on the steep side, it does have a range of styles, but I found much of it unagreeable. Fortunately, we visited on the day King Charles was coronated, so admission was free.
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection was much better. It is a place that I have been wanting to see for a long time. It houses several works by the Group of Seven, and we have seen these artists’ works in many locations in our travels over the years. I love the connections that one place has to another, and this gallery ties that in together very nicely. It, too, has a steep entry fee, but the quality of it is much better. I was fortunate enough to convince my wife to go to the McMichael and the AGO all because we got a new king. In celebration of his coronation, many cultural places had free admission. It was a great gallery with an outdoor sculpture walk and walking trails. Beautiful area.
There was Gallery Stratford Why? What was the point? I was deeply disappointed. The outdoor sculpture exhibits was childish and uninspired. One exhibition on the inside looked like a construct set in the middle of a renovation, and the paintings were hardly worth the calorie energy that I spent to open my eyes to see. Such a disappointment. It would have been nice to see some real talent on display and not regret the wasted time.
What we like the best is art street art. Murals, sculptures, graffiti alleys, and other forms that can be found simply by walking around a neighbourhood. This is our favourite because it includes the experience of a walk and seeing places that we would not usually see.
Whether your tastes are different than mine or the same, art is something that needs to be seen to be experienced. I prefer looking at something and saying, “What great talent!” instead of “Who would even consider this to be art?”
But there is one bad art place we have visited that was something that I was excited to see. The Bad Art Museum is a roaming exhibit and happened to be in Quebec City when I took my mother. It was the only time that looking at bad art was a good thing.
- I have visited many locations. Most are great, but there have been a few bad art galleries. You can see these on my Featured Map, and you can determine if you like what you see or not.
- Surprisingly, the less the admission charge, the better the art inside – this is something that we have found to be somewhat true.
- Even if the art inside the gallery is beyond questionable, it is part of the travel experience and seeing something unworthy can spark a lot of discussions while travelling to the next site.
