Art in ABQ

Better late than never, I guess, to tell you about my brief but fun stopover in Albuquerque on the way home from my extended Colorado stay.

In addition to the fun of a New Mexico United soccer game played at the Isotopes' field, plus of course enjoyable visits with good friends, I was also able to take in a couple of cultural high points. (High points not related to ABQ's most famous recent cultural phenomenon, however  )

First stop was the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, a very nice museum featuring—along with an excellent restaurant that made a fine lunch stop—not only live action art...

...but also modern pieces...

...as well as charming folk art, like this cheerful bird and the storytelling snake at the top of the post...

On next to the Albuquerque Museum, whose grounds were all we had museum-energy left for, but which offered some wonderful, and whimsical, pieces. (I'll have to take in the whole shebang on my next visit.)

The gates that lead out the back of the Museum to ABQ's old town are impressive works of art themselves, we thought (this is just part of one set):

But whimsy is the most common theme of this sculpture garden. The lady below isn't always holding her cell phone, but it's easy enough to add that detail...

Here's one of her "colleagues," getting his news in a more old-fashioned manner:

I thought this amalgamation of a lovely rock and some industrial chic was quite arresting...

...and this handsome take on the King Kong motif is terrific, don't you think?!

I couldn't help but be reminded of the etched panels at the American Air Museum in Duxford, which I visited in 2008. Although of course that sculpture is much more somber in tone, I still noted the resemblance of the planes here. And art can always call up multiple emotions, especially when you've been treated to such a wide variety of forms in such a wonderful setting.