Yellowstone Art Museum

I’m back in Montana, and you know what that means! Time for some Montana adventures. The weather has been kind of crappy lately. It’s colder and wetter than last year, so there have been a few indoor adventures rather than outdoor.

This past weekend, my sister and I stopped by the Yellowstone Art Museum. I’m pretty sure that you can take photos, as long as it isn’t with flash, but I didn’t ask, so don’t get irate with me.

I’m not the most artistically aware person in the world, but I like to think that I have a certain amount of appreciation. I’ve been watching The Art Assignment on YouTube, which I strongly recommend, especially the most recent episode on how to visit an art museum. Inspired to go take in some art, off we went. The Yellowstone Art Museum is a contemporary art museum, so some of the stuff is…out there. I thought that I would share a couple of my more favorite pieces.

The museum is divided across two storeys, the first has the permanent collection, and the second floor has the more transient pieces.

On the first floor there’s a lot of western-themed art. Native Americans and cowboys and stuff. That is not really my scene. I know that I do live in this place that is firmly ensconced in the western culture of cowboys and Indians and all that comes with it, but I’m not terrible connected with it. On the first floor, there is one piece that always really stood out to me. It’s a horse sculpture made out of old iron sign pieces. It’s named Ferdinand, by the artist Deborah Butterfield.

Upstairs was the cool stuff. There was a transient exhibit called Face to Face that I thought was really cool. It focused on hyperrealism and emotion. If you follow me on Instagram (which you should) you will have seen this statue. It’s a security guard, and it was so realistic that it was hard to stop thinking that someone was disapprovingly watching me snap cell phone photos.

I also enjoyed Self Portrait as Ernest Shackleton as well, mostly because of how ridiculous the idea of that is.

Hmmm…what else was there?

There was a sketch on paper that spanned an entire wall called Elephants. It was of…elephants. It was really cool and I liked it at first, but when you look closely, it’s really dark. The elephants have mouths that are sewn shut, and there’s drowning ducks and things like that.

There was also this Sonic the Hedgehog looking thing made out of packing blankets and drywall nails. I liked the colors. It is also huge. It was considerably taller than me.

Finally, this image of a face that was perforations in the canvas. It gave me a headache walking past because it changes as you move past it.

Those were the highlights of my trip to the YAM. Obviously there was a load more stuff, but these were my favorites.

Do you go to art museums frequently? What kind of art do you like the best?