NOMA offers wide range of exhibits for all patrons

Bess Turner, Contributing Reporter

With exhibits ranging from a Dutch and Finnish painting wing to a section dedicated to Oceanic pieces and even a Lichtenstein sculpture set at the entrance to welcome patrons, the New Orleans Museum of Art has much to offer by way of artistic entertainment. Visitors can enjoy a current feature on art in the Spanish-American home on the first floor as well as a vast collection of European Renaissance and Baroque art. The second floor contains modern staples, including pieces by Miró, Calder, Picasso and Warhol.

Currently, NOMA’s first floor hosts a special exhibition on art in the Spanish American home from 1492 to 1898 called “Behind Closed Doors.” It includes paintings, furniture, sculptures and textiles culled from the living spaces of the Spanish elite and will be on view through Sept. 21. A mural on display in the first floor lobby by Odili Donald Odita, entitled “FOREVER,” features bright colors and kaleidoscopic shapes through which Odita illustrates the inspiration he draws from his dual roots in Nigeria and Philadelphia, as well as influence from the culture and history of New Orleans.

The second floor of the museum is a juxtaposition of ancient and contemporary, with Greek pottery waiting on one side of the floor and an interactive replica of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood cabin on the other. The modern art section of the floor includes a Calder mobile, a cubism feature including Picasso, and Andy Warhol’s sparkling “Diamond Dust Shoes.” “Black Splat,” one of the more interesting pieces, surrounds viewers with incoherently whispering voices while pairs of eyes stare out from a dark mass.

The museum also features prominent female photographers such as Eva Watson-Schutze, Laura Gilpin, Anne W. Brigman and Imogen Cunningham in an exhibition entitled “Sphere of Influence: Pictorialism, Women, and Modernism” that will be displayed through Nov. 23. Through Oct. 12, NOMA will display Alexis Rockman’s strange and beautiful watercolors that helped inspire the world of 2012’s “Life of Pi.” As well as the work, the exhibition features a video on Rockman’s artistic style and the movie he helped create.

NOMA contains displays of Mezzanine, French, Louisiana, decorative, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, African, Pre-columbian and Oceanic art. It possesses a free-admission sculpture garden with pieces by Magritte, Renoir, Robert Indiana and many others.

Though admission to NOMA costs $10, college students who bring a school ID receive a discounted price of $8.

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