Valuable Time With You

Valuable Time With You. Venice, Italy. October 2017.

Venice, Italy. September 2017.

This is Domenico, one of my dearest friends. We traveled to Art Biennale in Venice together two years ago and returned again this year to see Vive Arte Vive! As a seasoned attendee of both the art and architecture Biennale, Domenico navigates the Giardini by heart and has an eye for detail that I can only hope to emulate. 

Here we are inside an installation in the Korean Pavilion designed by Lee Wan. Lee's work entitled "Proper Time: Though the Dreams Revolve with the Moon" is an installation of 668 clocks that cover the walls of this room from floor to ceiling. Each face has the name, birthdate, and nationality of various individuals Lee met while researching economic circumstances around the world. Despite its uniformity, the clocks do not move in unison. The hands move at a speed that is determined by the amount of time the subject has to work in order to afford a full meal. 

But, back to Domenico. He is my better half in all ways: sophisticated, articulate, and wise beyond his years. The time I spend with Domenico is precious and so when I took this photo, I thought it was, for lack of a better word, timely. I can only hope our Biennale trips together continue on as a tradition because every trip with Domenico is an education I cannot get anywhere else.

Besos Por Soumaya

Besos Por Soumaya. Mexico City, MX. March 2017. 

Mexico City, Mexico. March 2017. 

Museo Soumaya is the most visited museum in Mexico and for good reason. The museum is deceptively large, six stories with over 66,000 pieces of art. The most impressive part of the museum (in my opinion) is the top floor that houses founder Carlos Slim's collection of Rodin casts, the largest collection of casts outside of France, 380 to be exact. 

Speaking of Rodin, this sweet moment on the steps of the Soumaya reminds me of his sculpture "The Kiss". It was drizzling and dusk as I was leaving the museum; when I glanced back to admire the architecture, I saw this couple sharing un beso. 

Museo Soumaya itself is quite a romantic structure. It is named after Slim's late wife Soumaya who passed in 1999. Slim began collecting art largely due to Soumaya's influence. He built this version of the museum and dedicated it in her honor in 2011. Soumaya was a fan of Rodin's work and that is why Slim has collected so many of the works over the years. 

Private Vaporetto Ride

Private Ride. Venice, Italy. September 2015.

Blue Over You

Blue Over You. Houston, U.S.A. August 2017.

I had a long layover in Houston, Texas this afternoon so I decided to leave the airport and head over to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston to spend a couple hours with their collection. I was not familiar with the museum in advance of visiting so it was a pleasant surprise to see a James Turrell installation*. It is always hard to capture a Turrell correctly through the camera because it is such an immersive light experience, however this guard's silhouette against the rich, blue backdrop of light provided a poignant moment that was worth capturing.

*Turrell, "The Light Inside" (2000)

The Novacento View

The Novacento View. Milan, Italy. November 2015.

This room in the Museo del Novacento is my favorite view overlooking Piazza del Duomo. Museo del Novacento has a fantastic collection of 20th century Italian art, however I would often visit just for this view (and the bar that also overlooks the piazza). Pictured here is my friend Kata, a statuesque beauty that I worked with at Expo. When we visited Novacento together, we had just wrapped up a phenomenal Expo experience and were candidly a bit nostalgic and aimless. We had a large void to fill now that Expo had run its course and we were both plagued with the nagging "what next?" question. Kata and I decided to take a few hours to get out of our heads and enjoy our newly acquired free time by going to Novacento to take in this view. We had been so busy working that we hardly ever saw the Duomo or piazza during the day. This was a healthy change of pace and the best part of it was that we were able to go during off-peak hours and have the whole view to ourselves.