Düsseldorf – 28 January 2015
I went to the Museum Kunstpalast today; here are pictures along the walk. The manhole cover showing children doing cartwheels is a reference to this.
The museum has a truly phenomenal colletion of artistic glass works.
One part of the exhibit was devoted to archaeologically complete glass; glass that was restored from broken parts.
The other side of the museum contains both ancient and modern works. The first two pictures are an installation by Nam June Paik.
This one is called Impossible Union; the typewriter has Hebrew keys and the large metal part is Arabic calligraphy.
Part of the museum had an exhibit by Katharina Gross. One installation was colored dirt piled up in a large room. The other part was some of her paintings, which I liked a lot better.
Onwards to more art in the museum:
This is a portrait of some actor who bears a striking resemblance to Christian Slater, but isn’t.
And these two are exceptionally wonderful for their realism and use of light and shadow.
This is a detail from Family tree of Christ, which dates back to 1530.
After I left the museum, I head down along the banks of the Rhine toward the Media Harbor. I saw a few more of the statues atop kiosks:
Here are some of the other sights along the way:
I passed by Kunst im Tunnel (art in the tunnel), a small exhibition gallery built in a space between two underground traffic tunnels. The installation there was by a group of students under the leadership of Katharina Gross.
Near the tunnel gallery was this sign that counts the number of bicyclists that ride by. It must have some sort of radar near it. I checked as one bicyclist rode past, and, sure enough, the number was updated a few seconds later.
Here are two of the buildings designed by Frank Gehry; they are near the Mediahafen district.
I made my way back to the hotel, and saw this building as I was on the tram. I immediately got off at the next stop and walked back to get a picture.
Signage
This one is weird; it says “Hey Hey Viking”; apparently it’s a demolition and construction company.
A nice juxtaposition of the script “by hand” and industrial type for “made.”
I like the way the store papered over the windows and tore out a section to reveal the sale.
This appears to be an ad for a loan company; the word wunsch means wish, and the car substitutes for the letter S.