The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) highlights artistic and cultural changes in modern times in the 1980s-Present Collection. The gallery is an impressive collection of mixed media creations containing recreations of bomb shelters, sculptures made from fMRI readings and chandeliers made of discarded stuffed animals. The focus of this article will be on the recently installed exhibit in the Contemporary Art Gallery. The first of 16 exhibits, “Destination Unknown,” starts a running motif throughout the entire gallery, fitting for the modern day: uncertainty and instability. This article covers two of the three paintings in detail, exploring the ever-present change of ordinary life.

The centerpiece of  this exhibit is the piece “Unknown Pleasures” (2019) by Matthew Wong. “Unknown Pleasures” depicts a lush field of blue grasses and plants. In the horizon line sits a lone snowcapped mountain piercing the sky. The background is an assortment of cool, rich blues and greens that paint the skyline, broken up by a single band of warm yellow running through the center. The central focus is a winding black road cutting through the field, headed to the mountain. The brushwork used for each of the individual pieces of the painting helps distinguish each set piece. The grass in the field, for example, is created from a series of repeated dots of paint with varying textures, sizes and colors. Meanwhile, the road and horizon are composed of smooth, uniform lines of color. Most interesting is the brushwork for the mountain and trees. The rough brush strokes make the larger plants and trees more visible. The piece is especially dazzling in person because of how the paint composition changes the aesthetic beauty of the piece. Due to the technique used to paint the dots of the field, each individual dot has a slight sheen that makes the painting itself look like the shimmering scales. 

“Unknown Pleasures” comes together as a serene yet melancholy piece. One who sees the painting is invited to a tranquil world which only an art museum can provide. Museum goers become detached from their lives, engrossed in the detail left behind in brushwork. Wong describes the inspiration for the piece as “a mindful state that people go through in such as listening to music or daydreaming.” But like these other momentary escapisms, the painting also inevitably has an element of finality. Depending on where you stand while observing the piece, different trees and patches of grass shimmer. However, the beautiful illusion that allows this painting to glow is one that is constantly being destroyed and recreated by the human eye. Much like a daydream that is quickly forgotten, a person may never truly be able to view the painting with the exact same feeling again. The beauty that wholeheartedly engrossed its viewer was born and served its function before being undone.

In contrast with the serenity of “Unknown Pleasures,” Carlos Almaraz’s “Solo Crash” (1981) depicts a more provocative and unsettling setting. The piece is of an ardent car crash on a highway bridge. As flares burst on the first higher-up bridge, the pine green car flipped on its back, hurdling over the lower bridge. The rear of the car burns, leaving a plume of grey smoke as shards of metal rain down alongside the wreck. The eeriest detail is the shadow of the car, which is a viscous red splattered across the highway. The color choice splits the piece into conflicting motifs. The highway and backgrounds are all in cheery, smooth pastels, which depict the world as inviting and new. In contrast, the car wreck uses gritty colors, highlighting the sudden, vicious tragedy. These conflicting styles between the gritty and the relaxed elements portray a distinct conflict between the individual and their environment. 

The struggle reflected on the canvas stems from the personal experiences of unprecedented change that Carlos Almaraz has undergone. Almaraz had a fascination with car crashes, dedicating his artistic career to them. His fascination came from trying to depict the angst he felt living in Los Angeles during its urban development. Over the course of a year, entire new highways sprang up in his neighborhood, drastically altering the dynamic of the community. Apathy looms over Alvarez and his work. The world seems apathetic through the visual of the car wreck and the people who are either gravely wounded or killed in it. The background and bridge continue to be bright and colorful, despite the present tragedy. “Solo Crash” tells a somber message about the unstable nature of humanity in the face of the universe. In spite of any tragedy a person may experience, whether it be sudden or prolonged, the world will move regardless of our destination.