As a space enthusiast, it's not often you hear me say slow down, especially since rocket engines are designed to go really fast. Why it is that we frequently rush through the museum galleries to see everything in the collection instead of taking the time to focus on a single room or even just a few pieces?
Recently, I had the chance to visit The Fort Worth Modern to attend a Slow Art Tour. This particular tour was focused on Ellsworth Kelly but actually only three of Kelly's works, which are always displayed together, so you may even say focused on one work. I have always enjoyed seeing the minimalist artwork of Ellsworth Kelly, but this was a 30-minute masterclass on the artist's work including the shapes and color before me as well as his life and history.
His life story is very interesting. While attending high school, I learned that Ellsworth Kelly was interested in acting and in fact studied under Helen Travolta, the mother of famous actor John Travolta. Imagine if he had become an actor, instead of an artist. Although after high school, Mr. Kelly moved to Brooklyn to study art at the Pratt Institute. The master of color and camouflage was soon inducted into the US Army during World War II (WWII). Mr. Kelly was part of the elite and secretive 23rd Special Troops also known as the "Ghost Army". The Ghost Army would deploy jeeps made out of burlap and wood or inflatable tanks and artillery made of rubber as a decoy to the Axis Forces during WWII. I really love history, so I was really surprised and excited to learn about the Ghost Army while attending an art tour. If you are interested, it appears that the World War II Museum will have a traveling exhibition of the Ghost Army through 2023 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and the Nevada Museum of Art.
And if ever in Texas, I encourage you see Ellsworth Kelly's work at The Fort Worth Modern designed by Tadao Ando, but also visit the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin to see Kelly's AUSTIN (pictured above).
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