San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Reviews 3

DO

don willey

Expand your mind with art of our time (and about 100 years before). There are paid areas and free areas, so even if the regular admission is too much money for the time you can visit, or you dont love modern art, at least peek in for an appetizer. Start on the second floor with interesting works that show the transition from pre-modern to modern across several fronts like use of materials, colors, subject matter, degree of abstraction. Follow the evolution of art to express not just the world around us, but also the inner world of dreams and the psychoanalytic. Many works go head-on with the thesis that anything can be art. If you have a problem with this, I recommend opening yourself to new experiences and exploring the historical aspects more deeply. In my opinion if there is not something that seems like it couldnt be art, if nothing shocks or offends, the curators are being too restrictive and excluding something worthwhile. Impressionism was considered ugly and shocking when it was introduced, but seem through modern eyes, that reaction is puzzling. If you dont see any issue with any work in a day at SFMOMA, you can congratulate yourself on your skill at embracing the new. The audio guided tour had a lot of potential but a snafu kept me from receiving photos I took with their iPhone based equipment. I recommend that if you see something you really like, take a pic with your own mobile. Also, be careful to budget your time if you want to see it all in a day. This is a big museum. There may also be outdoor parts of the museum you want to see in particular light. The museum cafe looked nice, but a little pricy so I got a sticker or stamp so I could re-enter and Yelp in hand, marched out to grab a bite around the corner. The likelihood of success of saving money this way without killing time is highly dependent on planning. If I had my first visit to do over again, I would try to read up on artists and their works before going to allow more time to just focus on seeing the works. This is particularly true if you are visiting from out of town and need to split your day with other sight seeing. If you are a local and plan to visit several times, get a membership and focus on changing exhibits, while incrementally visiting part of the permanent collection each visit. The place can seem like a bit of a maze, and if you use the audio guide it has multiple guided tours, but some overlap and can leave you feeling a bit like you are going round in circles. The audio tour seemed like a great idea, but there may be a few precautions to take to get the most from it. - Increase your chance of success with it by having someone on the staff show you how to use it. - It seems like there was an option for login to iTunes. This could open up nice features, but be highly insecure. I didnt even consider it. - Keep an eye out for battery life. When mine ran down, the museum provided another fully charged device, but the power outage resulted in refreshing for the next user, so the pics and record of my visit went poof. - If you have an iPhone or iPad, you may be able to get the same or similar experience on your own device. Unfortunately, they dont yet have an android app.

PA

Patrick Smith

The New SF MOMA is a tour de force of the last 70 years of contemporary art in 170,000 square feet of gallery space on seven levels open to the public of the 10 level, 480,000 square foot museum. It takes several day long visits to see everything in detail. Since it mostly covers art from 1950 and later, it has few Picassos and Monets. But weve seen those already, right? Its the largest contemporary or modern art museum in the US, at least until the NY MOMA expands. You can read comprehensive reviews elsewhere, so this is a brief overview. The first two levels are open to the public for free. The first free level contains a huge walk through 214 ton sculpture by Richard Serra, a great staircase for sitting and an excellent museum store. The second level has an open area which is free, then you must get a ticket to see major works by Rothko, Rivera, Kahlo, Matisse etc. There is a museum store on the second level too. The third level contains the largest photography space in the US if not the world. Lots of interesting work there. Too much to see in one day. Levels 4, 5, 6, and 7 contain one giant room after another of major works by many of the most important artists since 1950. It will probably take more than a day to go through the entire museum. A new location aware app you can download knows where you are, discussing the art in front of you including interviews with the artist etc. The app can also take you on a guided tour, leaving your phone in your pocket. One of many tours is called Is this art?, explaining the art for the skeptically minded, when viewing works like a urinal called fountain, etc. You can sync the audio with your friends too. Dont forget your earbuds. I think you can rent iPods with the app running including headphones if you dont want to eat up your battery. I think it will even track the people you are with, in case you want to split up for a while. There are places to eat, with excellent food and places to view the cityscape. The largest living wall in the US in also in an open area to provide a break from the intense viewing inside. Its like being in the redwood forest. The bathrooms on each level have a different color scheme and are themselves, works of art. Visit them all! The stair cases with views are also works of art. Admission is $25, $19 for 19-24 year olds, and free for 18 and under. There is a senior discount. Its next to the Moscone convention center near where the new supertall hi rises are going up. Its only two blocks from two different underground BART and MUNI stations, so you dont have to drive into the city. Unlimited shopping is within walking distance. Definitely go see it!

CO

Cory Hall

Overall I always have an extremely pleasant time at the SFMoMA. Im on a dual membership, which means that on each visit myself and one guest can enter the museum for free. I am very happy with my decision to purchase a dual membership, as I bought the membership several months ago with a family friend (two memberships for ~$140, each member +1 guest gets free access, as opposed to $100 for a single membership) and my membership has already paid for itself. In the few months since Ive purchased my membership Ive already seen two wonderful exhibits, Matisse / Diebenkorm and Edvard Munch. The best time to visit the museum is during a week day, but if you must go during the weekend, visiting earlier is better. One of my favorite parts of visiting the museum is always visiting Cafe 5, the museum restaurant on the fifth floor. The menu is seasonal and changes every couple of months. My past several visits Ive ordered the Niçoise salad, which has unfortunately since been taken off the menu, but if it returns I would highly recommend. Cafe 5 is inside a beautiful and modern structure with large floor to ceiling glass walls framing a large indoor dining area. Upon entering youre greeted by an always friendly host, who offers a menu and points you to the back of the dining hall where you place your order and receive a number. In some cases a cafe staff member will intercept you and offer to take your order once seated. I always opt to eat outside in the sculpture garden, as it is fairly well protected from the sometimes chilly San Francisco elements. My most recent visit I ordered the shrimp salad on a slice of toast. Overall it was tasty, though the the thickness of the bread absorbed some of the flavor. The SFMoMA knows how to present a dish, and my boyfriends order of a quinoa and chickpea salad looked and tasted delicious. The table of four next to use also ordered the salad, and I heard several exclamations of delight. Overall the SFMoMA is a wonderful place to spend the afternoon, with a beautiful rotation of exhibits and a delicious cafe. I would highly recommend a visit if you can spare 2 hours and youre in the area.

Other organizations