WHAT HAPPENED TO US?

Back in April, Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi created Projects 85: What Happened To US?, his first US exhibit, at MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art - here in Manhattan. Perjovschi, 46, drew on the walls of the Museum’s seven-story atrium - in the center of the museum - simple line illustrations, cartoons, really, which to us look two-dimensional, almost childish, but are amazingly emotive - some immediately, some, after gentle consideration. The Museum calls them “witty and incisive.” Each vignette (Perjovschi refers to them as “the logo of the topic”) deals with different issues, very relevant in today’s America: energy, homosexuality, gay marriage, the concept of ’self,’ freedom of “expresion,” war, peace, oil, the Bible, Google, and others. Some have titles, like “I have to do” and “I like to do” but many do not. Perjovschi says he “disguised them under the humor stance, but they’re not funny at all.”

On August 5, just a few weeks before the exhibit closed (painted over? One hopes not!) on an impulsive visit (I drop in regularly when I’m in the neighborhood, which is often,) I used my cell phone to take these photos of the museum’s visitors. What I found fascinating was how intent the viewers were. How they emotionally interacted with Perjovschi’s drawings, lingering and returning far more often than most do at other exhibits the museum has, or at other museums, period.

The atrium, actually, the entire museum, is very black and white - just like New York itself. But you’ll notice the visitors, collectively, seem to be mostly dressed as the museum is, with a few dramatic shots of red injected.

I put the shots - completely unedited and in the same order as I shot them, into a simple Flickr slideshow which you can see here.

Tags: Dan Perjovschi, Drawing, Illustration, Manhattan, MoMA, New York City, NYC, Photography, Photos