CALATRAVA REVISITED

Call me cheap.  The Milwaukee Art Museum has free admission on the first Thursday of each month, and this January I decided to take advantage of that offer to do some photography.  I have shot various aspects of the Calatrava addition to the museum numerous times because of the abundant interesting architectural lines that the structure offers.  I just can't help myself, I guess.

As a reminder, here is a shot of the exterior of the addition with its brise soleil extended.

For me, the star of the show architecturally is the large central atrium.  On this free admission day the atrium was very crowded, so it would not have been possible to get a clean shot of the atrium's front prow.

But, in fact, I think the people in the scene help to provide perspective.

Here is another, vertical shot.

I took both of these shots from the atrium's exact center line to ensure symmetry.  But I also took a number of shots off-center to see what kind of effect that would produce.

I also took some shots of the atrium's "ceiling."

OK, I realize that these shots are very difficult to interpret for someone who has not been to the museum.  Even so, I like them for their abstraction and for their symmetry.

In addition to the atrium and meeting rooms and eating areas to the south, the Calatrava includes a special exhibit area, gift shop, offices and other spaces running north to the museum's main exhibit halls.  These spaces are flanked both east and west by long corridors.  In terms of architectural detail, I have been fascinated by the recessed lighting along these corridors.  Here are a couple of shots of that lighting.

These corridors also feature striking support ribs.  Here is a shot of those.

I liked the way these ribs converged in the right of this shot.  Somehow, as I was trying to get the right color balance for this shot, the supports came out a bit blue-green, while the walls were turning a bit pink.  Not the "true" colors, but I like the effect anyway.

I didn't ignore the actual art work, although I did not attempt to get into the special exhibit because there were long lines owing to the free admission and because no photography was allowed in the special exhibit anyway.  I have found that I am drawn more to sculpture and other three-dimensional art than to wall art because there are more options available in shooting those objects.

Here is the head of a dragon being slain.  I liked the emotion that the artist had caught.

And here is a "sculpture" that features chrome-plated objects situated in front of mirrors that created multiple images.

Below is one of my favorite sculptures, a nude woman (obviously) that is positioned in the west corridor, leading north from the atrium.  Note the structural supports in the background.

The museum is situated on the shores of Lake Michigan and there are ample opportunities to incorporate the lake views.  This is an outdoor sculpture.

And this is a general scene of a point of park land extending out into lake to the north.

I liked how this shot came out, including the use of negative space.