Reina Sofia y Parque del Buen Retiro

I have just returned from a few hours out in Madrid, at the Reina Sofia modern art museum and the Buen Retiro park in downtown Madrid.

I took my old camera so that I'd have a few pictures but, it's definetly not as good as my new one. At La Reina Sofia, there were walls and walls of Picassos, in fact a whole wing dedicated to the Guernica and his practicing and plans for it. For those that don't know, the Guernica is the huge black and white painting Picasso did in memorial of the Spanish civil war and its atrocities. Above is a drawing he did called "study of crying face", or something to that effect. There was a lot of art based around the civil war, and some very graphic photography in a nearby gallery. I never realized what a modern war it was, with photographers capturing the whole thing. It made me want to read about the civil war and learn more about what happened. The Guernica is a fascinating painting, but really the whole subject is worth exploration.

Also very cool at the Reina Sofia was a temporary exhibit by an artist called Matthew Buckingham called "Time Proxies", it was a series of audiovisual installments and was very interesting. One room was completely full of what looked like the contents of an estate sale piled to the ceiling and in the center of it all was a little niche where a video was playing and you could sit on the wrapped up couches and listen to the little piece. It was about portraits and what portraits do, that they represent us, affirm our existence, demand that people pay attention to us, and allow us a window into each other than is otherwise forbidden. It was fascinating.

After spending about two hours in the Reina Sofia, they closed and I resolved to return another sunday (when it's always free). I bought a bocadillo(sandwich) of Tortilla Española (a potato-omelet ish thing that is the best effing stuff in the world) and carried it into Madrid's largest and most intricate park: Parque del Buen Retiro. This is a lovely space filled with broad walks and shady lanes accompanied by man made brooks and ponds. Its the sort of place you need to have all your family or a bunch of friends with you to have a picnic and then go rowing on the big pond. There is also a glass palace "palacio de crystal" and many ponds full of fish and ducks to feed. I would have loved this place as a child.

Also, since I had my camera with me, I snapped a few pictures of the area where I live on my way home. So you can catch those on facebook! I have lots going on this coming week, so here's hoping it goes well!

Love you all!

A