Destinations

Sometimes you just have to take Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and go to the classroom in the city. Fortunately, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is open late on Thursday nights… so you don’t have to put your job or your wallet in jeopardy. The Museum is free on the first Tuesday of each month, but half-price admission every Thursday evening from 6-9 attracts both tourists and locals alike.

Commuting up to the San Francisco Office once a week, I had been eyeing streetlight banners advertising an exhibit by Lee Friedlander, an award-winning and renowned photographer. Working primarily with a 35mm Leica camera and producing black and white silver gelatin prints, the SFMOMA exhibit showcased nearly 400 pictures, largely drawn from Friedlander’s personal work.

Displayed chronologically from the 1950s to the present, walking through the exhibit is like watching an artist unfold and develop. There are struggles, fixations, experiments, travels around the country and across the world, moments of quiet brilliance, and big, bold glory. Every photography class I have ever taken mentioned Friedlander, but that evening at the SFMOMA, I realized something about his work I would have never otherwise known. Friedlander’s use of his camera as medium was never for a moment an attempt to create images about aesthetic beauty - not to say that he hasn’t accomplished this in his work. But I believe his intention is to dialogue with the world around him and express his extraordinary and unique perception of every day life. Friedlander is applauded for his “social landscapes” and ability to isolate the “backdrop of modern life” with witty, lyrical and untraditional style.

The Friedlander exhibition runs through Sunday May 18th. Other artist exhibitions currently at the SFMOMA feature works by Gabriele Basilico, An-My Lê, Paul Sietsema, Paul Klee and Devendra Banhart, in addition to photographic, painting, and sculpture collections. The SFMOMA is located on 3rd Street between Howard and Mission, just off the 80 and 280 Freeways, ½ mile to the Powell Street and Montgomery Street BART Stations, and a short cab ride from the Caltrain Station. The Museum is also conveniently nestled in between the W Hotel and the St. Regis Hotel, both of which have very chic cocktail lounges recommended before or after your evening of art.

If you want to see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, do it on your own, with a personal guide and after hours. It is expensive and needs to be reserved months in advance, but it is an incredible experience. In the Villa Borghese Gardens there are 3 incredible museums to see and they are within walking distance from each other.

Start with the Galleria Borghese which hosts one of the most diverse and distinguished collections on Earth (advance reservations are essential). The walls are alive with the likes of Raphael, Perugino, Caravaggio, and Titan. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, probably the greatest sculptor of the 17th century, stands out. In statues like the Rape of Proserpina, Bernini’s dramatic flair with marble, though of questionable political correctness, verges on sorcery.

Now walk past the little lake of the “Giardino del Lago” and descend down the steps to Valle Giulia, where the Galleria d’Arte Moderna is an incredible collection of modern Italian paintings (from the time of Fascism to now), and other modernists.

Around the corner from there is the “Etruscan Museum” which is not to miss! It has the greatest collection of crafts from the people who lived in Italy before and during the Roman times, until they got wiped out by the ancient Romans brutal force.

The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, in Piazza dei Cinquecento shows off some of Rome’s greatest frescoes, mosaics.

A the Centrale Montemartini, a former electric plant near the Testaccio area, the turbines set off the great marble statues and sculptures.

But mostly, if you are in Rome, do as the Romans do - walk around the center of the city, explore the different areas and enjoy the many outdoor restaurants. My favorite hang out is Campo de’Fiori Square, and the surrounding streets (the area is called Borgo) with one of the most picturesque outdoor markets in the city and many beautiful palaces designed by famous architects (Michelangelo, Bernini, Raffaello). The piazza is lined with bars, and Romans squeeze in for an aperitivo or after-dinner drink before overflowing into the square. The general rule is to sit down wherever you find a seat, but my favorite spot is simply marked “Vineria.” The draw: Cheap wine, what else? But, you may well find the spiderweb of alleyways around the church, filled with artisans’ workshops and sleek cafes, just as intriguing.