Art: Denied

Today was "sick" day with Nate. We had planned a few weeks ago to take today off and go to the Art Institute. We figured that today would be good because it is the day after the new BSG episode (I'd say it was the best episode of this season), so may as well ride high on the awesomeness of BSG and call in sick. Also we figured it would be quiet on a random January Monday. We slept in, went to Toast for a quick breakfast, then down to the Art Institute. The place is massive, and not intuitively designed. I think of the SF MoMA or the Asian Art Institute, and how the buildings lead you around naturally. You never get lost or forget which way to start. This place was so confusing and I couldn't understand the connections between many parts.

So we get through the whole thing, with plans to save the contemporary art for last as that is our favorite part. We head towards it, and there is a big barrier in front of the wing. Uh-oh. Nate asks the guard what's up, and she replies "installation - it'll be back open next week." Us: "The whole thing is closed?" Her: "Yup" DENIED! TOTAL BUMMER! That meant no Johns, no Rauschenberg, no Cornell boxes, no nothing! I wandered through pastel-saturated impressionist art for hours and got NOTHING! It was a serious downer. We were both really bummed out about it, but will just have to go back in a few weeks to see that part. I wish I would have known it was going to be closed, so we could have adjusted our sick day plans. Despite the setback, the day was really awesome.