Small discoveries and pleasures await you in a museum. Lose yourself in a famous masterpiece, feel the thrill of new art, find resonance and emotion in a fine detail, soak in the tranquility and sense of contentment that a museum provides, then enjoy a good chat with your companion at the cafe or browse the delightful goods in the museum shop.
We go to museums for these and other pleasures that enrich our soul. This autumn, Hare Museum ARC presents works from our permanent collection that have the unique power—like a vitamin tablet—to make us feel better, to give a boost to those of us who may be feeling a little stressed out from modern life, perhaps a little tired or sad from our work, studies or human relations.
These works include the most recent addition to the collection, a large-scale work by Mickalene Thomas entitled Mama Bush: One of a Kind Two, which is being shown to the public for the first time. Thomas replaces the concubine in The Grand Odalisque by Ingres, the master of neoclassicism, with a black woman and embellishes her with rhinestones as a comment on female beauty, race and feminism. The expression is powerful in this work by an artist who has won critical acclaim at such museums as The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
In Cheering for Art by Hiroharu Mori, a cheering squad repeats its support for art in a direct and powerful manner that is full of wit. Tadanori Yokoo's Post War, on the other hand, shows the divas Misora Hibari, Shizuko Kasagi and other persons hovering over a devastated landscape like beacons of hope to the artist and others who lived through the war. Miranda July’s The Hallway presents one sign after another with words on them. As visitors makes their way through the narrow passageway, they might feel as if someone were giving them a push of encouragement as they face the challenges of everyday life. Jonathan Borofsky's Art is for the Spirit is symbolic of the Hara Museum Collection's basic orientation. Come this autumn to enjoy this exhibition of art works for the soul.
