Before We Set Sail – A Visit to the Perez Art Museum Miami

March 14, 2019 by

We arrived at the ship’s berth at noon and we were set to sail for Cuba at 6 pm. The buffet was beckoning as were the lounge chairs and the sparkling pool, but we were docked within view of the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). We grabbed a plate of food, knowing there would be plenty of gastronomical experiences in the coming week, and grabbed a taxi to take advantage of an afternoon to see some art before we set sail.

  • Perez Art Museum
  • Miami Florida

PAMM is celebrating its 35th anniversary, though they have only been at this site since 2013. A minimalist building with great views — inside and out.

For Those in Peril on the Sea by Hew Locke

Once inside the art museum’s entrance, we were greeted by an impressive array of colorful vessels, all suspended from the high atrium’s ceiling.

“… the installation creates the impression of a massive exodus taking place throughout the architectural space above the viewer. It features a broad range of vessel types, from cigarette boats, catamarans, and cruise liners to ragged fishing skiffs and timeworn cargo ships

Part of the installation For Those in Peril on the Sea by Hew Locke

“In light of Miami’s history as the site for numerous waves of immigration—particularly from the Caribbean, and specifically by sea—For Those in Peril on the Sea will have a particular resonance for the Museum’s audiences.”

~ from PAMM website
Our Reflection in art by Anish Kapoor. Untitled, 2013.
  • Man with Axe
  • Man with Broom

This is only a tiny portion of the expansive installation in miniature by Liliana Porter. El hombre con el hacha y otras situaciones breves – Venecia 2017 (The man with the axe and other brief situations – Venice 2017)


The gallery with a view. It was a popular place for selfies and too-numerous-to-count photo ops for several young women. I eventually decided I didn’t have enough time nor patience to wait and so took a photo of the view plus Bob plus strangers. There were other things to see, but one of my first views of the Atlantic Ocean was still a highlight.

Kerry James Marshall b. 1955 Campfire Girls 1995

Marshall has long emphasized the importance of creating ordinary representations of black people at leisure, representations that are largely absent from the history of painting.

from PAMM exhibit

while the dew is still on the roses . . . presents the work of Kingston-born artist Ebony G. Patterson (b. 1981). The most significant presentation of the artist’s work to date, the project includes examples of the artist’s work produced over the last five years, embedded within a new installation environment that references a night garden.

~ from Perez Museum of Art Miami website
night garden begins here

This was my favorite exhibit – a large darkened room filled with the artist’s “drawings, tapestries, videos, sculptures and installations that involve surfaces layered with flowers, glitter, lace and beads…”

Teresa Margolles b. 1963 La gran America (America the Great), 2017

Handmade cobblestones made from dirt and clay collected from both sides of the Rio Grande, fired and set into a wall installation.

Window View at PAMM © 2019 Bo Mackison
Geometrics – a Found Walk-Through-Sculpture Staircase ©2019 Bo Mackison
A View of the Harbor with Cruise Ships in the Background ©2019 Bo Mackison

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Day 12: Amsterdam and Van Gogh

October 24, 2018 by

Painterly © 2018 Bo Mackison

The light in Amsterdam is a painterly light, indeed.

Amsterdam Centraal Station was designed by Pierre Cuypers who is also designed the Rijksmuseum. It’s an impressive work of architectural art. We were racing the clock as we walked by Centraal Station, on our way to our timed admission tickets at the Van Gogh Museum.

Van Gogh Museum ©2018 Bo Mackison

And here we are — two buses in busy Friday afternoon traffic — but we all arrived in time to claim our tickets. This museum is BUSY.

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers ©2018 Bo Mackison

No photographs allowed — though their were plenty of visitors taking photos while pretending not to be taking photos. This copy of Sunflowers was one of the few permissbale photo stops.

Van Gogh ©2018 Bo Mackison

Of course, there was no limitations on photos of prints in the gift shop, so I made do with a photo of a copy. But mostly I enjoyed studying the many paintings. There is an extensive display of his self-portraits — so many self-portraits because Van Gogh would not have had the money to pay a model, thus he painted himself. For free.

Bob the Artist ©2018 Bo Mackison

Bob found a “Bob the Artist” book and was more than content to share.

van Gogh Museum ©2018 Bo Mackison

The van Gogh Museum’s new entrance hall opened in 2015. The curved glass structure, positioned between the museum’s two buildings, connects the spaces while providing shelter for waiting visitors.

Mirroring Cube ©2018 Bo Mackison

A mirroring cube between the entrances of Stedelijk Museum and van Gogh Museum, it reminds me of The Bean in Chicago’s Millennium Park with people talking photos in the reflective surfaces.

We walked past the Rijksmuseum  and through its center tunnel. It was designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1885. It consists of two squares with an atrium in each square. In the center is a tunnel with the entrances at ground level and the Gallery of Honour on the first floor.

The Rijksmuseum ©2018 Bo Mackison

The Rijksmuseum is on the Museum Square near the van Gogh Museum.

Amsterdam is famous for its canals and its lovely light. Well deserved.

Painting the Town Red ©2018 Bo Mackison

Painting the town red.

 

Amsterdam ©2018 Bo Mackison

 

Light on the Canal ©2018 Bo Mackison

 

Van Go ©2018 Bo Mackison

A decorated bicycle near the Amsterdam Harbor.

Last Toast ©2018 Bo Mackison

The last toast; tomorrow we fly home.

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Day 10: Hamburg’s Maritime Museum and More

October 22, 2018 by

International Maritime Museum ©2018 Bo Mackison

From journal notes October 3, 2018:

We returned to the Viking Sky after our walking tour and ate a late lunch, and we still had six hours before our planned excursion to the Reeperbahn. Checking Google maps, we discovered Hamburg’s Maritime Museum was only a 10 minute walk from where the ship was docked. There was plenty to look at on our stroll to the museum.

The Sumatrakontor (left photo) Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat designed a mixed-use building with a facade that parts like a pair of red curtains. Located in the HafenCity development area of the city, the ten-story Sumatrakontor is clad in stone that mimics the red colour of brick buildings nearby on the harbor.

The Elbphilharmonie (right photo) has a glass facade with wave-like rooftop and rises up from the former Kaispeicher building on the western tip of the HafenCity. It houses two concert halls, the Westin Hamburg, and luxury apartments. Between the old warehouse and the glass structure is the Plaza – a public viewing area that extends around the whole building.

Speicherstadt (Warehouse City) ©2018 Bo Mackison

As we walked across the harbor, we could see the warehouse district. Named as a UNESCO site in 2015, Speicherstadt — with its buildings and network of streets, canals and bridges — is considered “an extraordinary example of representing one or more eras of human history.”

From Hamburg’s website: Speicherstadt (Warehouse City) is the world’s largest complex of warehouses and spans an area of 64 acres. Built into the Elbe river between 1883 and the late 1920s, the complex is supported on thousands of oak poles. The neo-gothic brick architecture of Speicherstadt contrasts the neighbouring HafenCity with many of Hamburg’s modern steel-and-glass constructions.

International Maritime Museum ©2018 Bo Mackison

International Maritime Museum, which opened in 2008, houses the 40,000 item collection of Peter Tamm (1928-2016) former chairman of the board of Axel Springer AG.

The 9 story museum is in the Kaispeicher B (quay warehouse B), the oldest preserved warehouse in Hamburg, built in 1878-79 and renovated extensively for the museum.

What a great use of an old building. We began our exploration on the ninth floor which was filled with thousands of miniature ship models. The exhibit has what was the first piece of the collection–a small model given to Tamm by his mother when he was sick and needed to stay in bed.

And we spent an hour exploring the eighth floor which housed Maritime art, including several cases of bone ships.

Outgoing Fishing Vessel by Georg Hambuchen ©2018 Bo Mackison

The museum has the largest collection of bone ships. These have an unlikely story — many were created by prisoners-of-war who used whatever available materials were at hand — bones from their meals, their own hair, etc. — to create ship models. They were fascinating to study in a macabre sort of way. Testament to the creative spirit, I do believe.

Jules Verne Print ©2018 Bo Mackison

We walked through most of the other floors, but spending three hours here allowed us to give many exhibits a cursory glance. Favorites included the exhibit on cruise ships, including artifacts from the great sailings on the Queen Mary and LEGO replicas of some historical favorites.

Well worth our time and a great value too.

Harbor View ©2018 Bo Mackison

Another walk back to the ship and dinner, then off to have a beer in the oldest brew house in Hamburg.

Groninger Brewhouse claims to be the city’s first wheat beer brewery. We went with a group and those indulging in the beer tasting seemed well satisfied. I can only vouch for the good flavor of the pretzels!

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Day 9: A Gray Day in Kiel Germany

October 18, 2018 by

Parts are from my dictated journal dated October 2, 2018, 16:45

A brand new country — Germany. (Birthplace of many of my ancestors, though we are visiting the far north regions of Germany and many of my “great-greats” were from the Bavarian region.)

Kiel felt grey all day.  I know it didn’t help that we had overcast skies and lots of rain, and that Kiel is more industrial and less historic. Since much of the city was demolished in World War II, it makes sense that the city has a different feel than places like Oslo or Aalborg. Even the older looking buildings have all been built after WWII. Perhaps if we were to return when it is summer and blue skies are prevalent, I might have a different take.

Today’s weather was inclement and I’m continuing to favor a bum leg, so we chose to stay in town rather than take the 5+ hour tour to Lübeck. We scheduled a replacement tour to the Kiel Maritime Museum which was only a quick walk from where the ship was docked.

Kiel Maritime Museum Source: Rüdiger Stehn / flickr

The maritime museum (Schiffahrtsmuseum) is in a former fish market hall at the Kiel harbor and its building was my favorite part of the museum. I have no photos of my own of the outside, because it’s hard to take photographs when in pelting cold rain, but here is a photo taken when the sun was shining. Source: Rüdiger Stehn / flickr

I’m quite taken by the idea of rehabbing old buildings and repurposing them, and Kiel’s Museum has been done with fine execution. The museum was large and open and filled with a wonderful soft light, all features that made the museum an inviting space.

The current exhibit was an installation titled 1918 and focused on a time of great change for the German military.

The beginning of the unwinding of the German monarchism started in Kiel in 1918 when the military commanders ordered their fleet to sail for one more battle after a series of staggering defeats and the sailors staged a revolt and refused.

Although I see the usefulness of documenting history, I don’t especially enjoy touring war history museums. And this exhibit was all about World War II. That bias admitted, those in the audience who were interested in history, including Bob, found the exhibits well done and informative.

The posters of propaganda, and the stories behind them, were interesting, and I was fascinated with the well crafted calligraphy in the hundred year old posters. All documentation of a time when great sacrifices were demanded of the German citizens, all with the promise of imminent victory, and the people sacrificed everything; they also lost everything.

After our Maritime Museum visit, we walked towards the city center. Still raining, still cold. We headed for Stadtgalerie Kiel (Kiel Municipal Gallery of Contemporary Arts and what we hoped to be a promising contemporary arts museum, but once inside we discovered the current exhibit was about — war. Ugh! No desire to spend much time here, but we did do a quick walk through.

We discovered a tucked-in-the-back art library which looked oh-so-enticing.

This museum houses a permanent exhibition of the works of the Expressionist artist Heinrich Ehmsen who was a Kiel native.

I finally ended up taking photographs of the art gallery itself-–a long hallway with a single patron, five paintings and a bench, symmetrical windows and radiators. All Miksang-like photos.

Then we left and I bought a leather jacket and Bob bought a beer. These activites redeemed the day.

Biergarten Holstenplatz © 2018 Bo Mackison

Here’s the site of the Biergarten Holstenplatz which offered a variety of local beer.

St. Nikolai Wing Altar ©2018 Bo Mackison

It’s hard to pass by a church without going in. St. Nikolai was no exception. The old church was destroyed during the war, but the church’s art was hidden and was later returned to the church after it was rebuilt.

This highly ornate wing altar was carved in 1460.

We frequently saw word “fahren” on street signs, a word that always caught our eye as it is a part of our surname.

Fahren: to drive, move, pass, run.

We returned to the ship midafternoon in preparation for an early departure me. There were a few openings in the gray clouds and the blue sky was most welcome sight.

Next we are heading through the Kiel Canal on our way to Hamburg. The 62-mile-long Kiel Canal links the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. More than 30,000 ships pass through the canal every year, which ranks it among the world’s busiest artificial waterways.

Here’s a rainbow farewell.

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Day 6 Oh, Oslo!

October 15, 2018 by

From my dictated journal on September 29, 2018 8:40 PM:

I love Oslo.

Sailing the Oslofjord and pulling into the dock before sunrise and everything was cool blue and quiet.

Once off the ship, and on our way to a morning of art museums and Edvard Munch, we passed the Akershus Fortress. The colorful installation in front of the Akershus is a part of Oslo’s effort to rid the city center of as many cars as possible. The empty parking lots have inspired a whole new breed of art — post-traffic art installations. This parking lot now has a colorful design and a parking meter that’s equipped with a WiFi speaker where you play your own music and dance along. Shall We Dance? is by artist Marisa Ferreira.

Empty Chairs © 2018 Bo Mackison

There’s also art near the Fortress with a more serious intention — it’s an art memorial for Jewish Holocaust victims.

Artist Antony Gormley described his sculpture in this way: “The Holocaust cannot be represented. I want to make a place to remember, to make a bridge between the living and the dead in order that these events and their implication should not be lost. The site is very evocative with the most minimal intervention. The presence of the excluding walls of the fort and the sea are already very powerful imaginative catalysts. The trees act as a witness to time and its passing.”

Santa by L.A. Artist Paul McCartney © 2018 Bo Mackison

We saw lots of street art while touring Oslo on our way to art in art museums. Art in Oslo is both inside and outside. Paul McCartney recently unveiled his sculpture Santa, a six-meter tall, Santa-red cast iron rendition of the holiday icon holding something that looks like a Christmas tree. Hm. It IS an interesting feature in the middle of a round about.

We then visited the National Gallery and saw several of Munch’s paintings, including his famed The Scream, Madonna, The Sick Child, Dance of Life and Puberty, plus lots of works by Munch’s 20th century contemporaries such as Harald Sohlberg, Henrik Sørensen, Ludvig Karsten and the sculptor Gustav Vigeland, and I especially enjoyed my introduction to the Scandinavian landscape painters and Norwegian Romanticists.

Monet’s Rain at Etratat, 1886t

More rooms displayed art by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Toulouse-LaTrec. And of course 90 minutes in any museum is never enough, and thus much of the museum’s collection required walk-bys, so I definitely need to plan another sojourn to Oslo.

Following our stroll through the National Gallery, we drove to the Munch Museum.  Edvard Munch bequeathed all of his works and arts and papers to the city of Oslo. They are mostly housed in a museum built in 1964; a new museum is being built and will be completed next year.

I love the Munch Museum; I think I would love any museum dedicated to a single artist. Of course, other artist’s work is shown in the museum. We were there while this was open: Moonrise, An Exhibit of Marlene Dumas and Edward Munch.  (Follow the link for all sorts of information.)

After our museum tour was over, we headed back to the ship. On the way we drove past the Opera House. Lots of people were walking up the structure. Architect firm is Snøhetta. Beautiful from afar!

From Wikipedia: “The roof of the building angles to ground level, creating a large plaza that invites pedestrians to walk up and enjoy the panoramic views of Oslo. While much of the building is covered in white granite and La Facciata, a white Italian carrara marble, the stage tower is clad in white aluminium, in a design by Løvaas & Wagle that evokes old weaving patterns.”

I have to come back to Oslo. I’ve never wanted to see opera before my life, but this building makes me want to come back and see opera!

Smørrebrød on the Viking Sky © 2018 Bo Mackison

Smørrebrød! Yes. Back to the ship for lunch and our first taste of Smørrebrød, an open face sandwich with a bit of salad and a topping of meat or fish. (And then, after that meal, all seems well with the world!)

We canceled our planned excursion to Vigeland Park because of inclement weather (RAIN!) and an aching hip. Next time! But we were not about to sit on the ship with an entire city beckoning us to explore. So we walked across the street from the cruise ship terminal and took a steep set of stairs set into a grassy knoll to the back entrance of Akershus. A trek through a tunnel and an iron gate, and we were in the Akershus Fortress facing the harbor. What a view!

We played with the cannons, pretending to fire on the pretty Viking Sky. And then we strolled through the grounds, dodging the rainstorms, and eventually discovered Norway’s Resistance Museum. A must visit site.

Norway Resistance Museum, photo from Visit Oslo.

The Norway Resistance Museum at Akershus Fortress documents Norway’s domestic WWII history from 1940-1945. The exhibition has re-created five years of Nazi occupation through pictures, documents, posters, objects, models, and original copies of newspapers and recordings. The Museum is located in a building that dates from the 17th century, and adjoins the memorial for Norwegian patriots executed during the war.

It’s a sobering museum, and yet it still speaks loudly, honoring the efforts of those that refused to give in, refused to remain quiet, even while risking their lives.

We set sail down the Oslofjord about 6 PM, and got ourselves dried off just in time to claim a front row seat in the Explorer’s Lounge and take in the stunning sunset.

We sail tonight heading for Aalborg, a change in plans. Due to high winds we’ll no longer be visiting Skagen, but will instead visit the historic city of Aalborg which lies in more protected waters.

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