The art gallery district is always full of eye candy and thought-provoking installations, but on Saturday afternoon when we took the kids to 798, this particular exhibition called “Elmgreen & Dragset: The Well Fair” at the UCCA got them excited with its bright colours and huge canvases.
My daughter has been showing a lot of artistic skill. At just four and two months old, she draws details into her work that surprise us all. Frills on dresses, eyelashes separate from eyebrows, braided hair on her princess drawings, etc. Then she painstakingly colours them with her tongue out, concentrating while gripping the pencils in her left hand. She is a lefty like her grandfather—my dad. And he is an exceptional visual artist. Genetics never seemed that amazing until I began to witness their power in my own children .
So, when their dad suggested we take the kids to see some galleries, my daughter was excited and she bounced around in the large gallery spaces taking in the colours and forms with a huge grin on her face. The fact that she rather matched the colour scheme with her bright yellow jacket had me smiling too.
Even though the art was interesting to her, the highlight of the excursion were the cupcakes, however. Even when we returned home, the feedback to her grandmother was all about the yummy white icing and the “cute box” that the cupcake had been packaged in. I suppose the craft of cupcake-making and its interesting packaging ought to count as a type of art too. After all, it was purchased in the gallery district!
All life is art, if you use your eyes.
Photos: Courtesy of Ember Swift
