San Jose Museum of Art

10/4/2008

This museum satisfies the need for artistic eye candy, but not enough.  It felt like it needed more oomph for a bigger impact.  The Robot exhibit was pretty cool; that Styrofoam robot was amazing.  The Road Trip gallery was okay; I liked the wooden sleeping quarters that was built for camping.

The Colors exhibit was very simplistic.  Very easy to duplicate, so it didn't really amaze me as much as the others.

$5 was pretty good; but I expected a bit more, I guess.  Oh, and the gift shop is pretty neat, if not a tad expensive.

4/6/2007

AMAZING contemporary art. The displays in this museum will leave you in awe.. they're not just paint on a canvas, but art made from a variety of strange (yet interested) materials. The artists here are young, new, and are gifted with brilliant ideas. I recommend this museum for everyone--even if you aren't an art-lover, this place will fascinate you.

I'm so disappointed that this museum isn't free anymore due to budget cuts, but it's $3 with a SJ Library card and student ID.

11/12/2006

We had a great time.  I randomly checked the website one weekend and discovered that it was "Family Art Weekend".  

I've been a parent for a long time.  I'm OUT of ideas.  Discovering something like this is like splitting atoms, it's that remarkable.  

As part of the main exhibit, one of the artists was there giving a tour of the pieces and explaining in detail the process for their creation.  The pieces themselves were more collage-like, if that is a word, so the explanations were actually quite entrancing.  All of this was leading up to the "family activity" which consisted of picking out one of the AMAZING wooden cigar boxes that someone had donated to the museum exhibit and then decorating them with all the hoo-hahs and do dads and goodies that were laid out on a table for us.  I was obsessed with the pieces of old vinyl maps that had been outlived their usefulness in classrooms and had been cut to hand size.  Also, the idea that we were allowed to cut photos out of National Geographic.....let me just say....I lived my entire childhood wanting to do this and my mother would have KICKED MY ASS.

There were several people there helping with the projects, including the wielding of hot glue guns.  We had the best time EVER.  There were five of us, ranging in age from 36 to 4 and we all had fun.  Now, THAT is an accomplishment.  Our lovely cigar box creations are in a big collection in our dining room now....fun stuff.

We spent some time in the other exhibits, but not much.  The museum itself is pretty small, so we DID see pretty much everything in that short time.

BIG FUN CLOSE TO HOME.  FIVE STARS.

1/21/2007

5 stars for an amazing of artists.
-1 star because it's no longer free.

2/3/2007

Small, but effective.  I went here with a friend to see the exhibit called the Listening Post.  Thank goodness Parking Lots in Downtown SJ were free!  Only problem...I think everyone knew.  Anyways, went into the art museum and paid the cashier asked if I was a student.  I said "I could be." And she gave me the student price which was great!  $5 well worth spent.  I highly suggest going now.  There's an M.C. Escher and an Optical Illusion exhibit which are cool if you're into that stuff.  The Listening Post is really intriguing.  It has 7 movements which all deal with IRC chats.  One of them dealt with what were the last 200 least used words.  Another was 4 letter words (which sometimes were crude and funny ;) ).  The one which was really intriguing was the phrases "I am"/"I Like"/"I Love" movement where the exhibit finds the phrases which start with the two words in chats in IRC.  So I saw "I like big boobs"  and of course it is being said too...since it's a sound exhibit.  There were some funny phrases...I really wonder which chat rooms were they were taking the phrases from....lol.  Another display called "World Processor" was really interesting.  A bunch of world globes were decorated with poignent meanings like birth rates, depleted fishing areas...My friend and I tried guessing what each globe represented.  Really worth my $5. =D

• 

  goooooogle...

  goooooogle...
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  the worlds...

  the worlds...
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  blurry listening post...

  blurry listening post...

1/29/2007

Small, pretty decent museum which tends toward interesting, sometimes playful, minor work, though that's getting better -- exhibits of works by Gustavo Ramos Rivera and Richard Diebenkorn go a long way toward raising the bar.

Individual admission is too steep for the (usual) quality and quantity of the exhibits; the best bet is to buy an annual membership (fairly priced from $50 individual/$75 family) and enjoy free access throughout the year, plus discounts in the museum store and other benefits.

Also -- admission is two dollars OFF with a SJ library card -- not two dollars.

Three and a half stars, really, but with the improvements, I lean toward four.  There are some exhibits -- the Diebenkorn, especially -- covering important and unjustly undervalued work -- which are truly important.

8/1/2009

The best modern art museum I've ever gone to! Curently, there is the Todd Schorr "American Surrealism" exhibit which was mindblowing. The images, the combination of art forms, the titles, the descriptions all brought understanding of the pieces. I don't know much about art, but I completely understood this exhibit. The other collections and exhibits were also awesome, like Variations on a Theme, but the Todd Schorr one was the highlight. I went on the first Saturday of the month, so Bank of America cardholders get to go for free. Students only pay $5. The Todd Schorr exhibit alone is worth it!

9/7/2007

This museum is always worthwhile. The bigger exhbitions range from 2nd rate to downright hideous, (way to many bright colors in general) but they always mange smaller, high quality shows.
Often of works on paper, something I am fan of.

The Ed Ruscha/Raymond Pettibon is easily the most signifigant exhibiton the Bay Area has had in years. The Suite of early Brice Marden etchings downstairs is also fantastic.
Recently there was an amzing Terry Winters show as well.

They get high marks for putting on such great exhibitions with clearly less resources than the De Young or SFMOMA. If Yerba Beuna ever pulled it's head out it could be that good.

11/25/2008

Good lord, an exhibit of photographs of Frida Kahlo?  I can see having an exhibit of her paintings, but photographs of her?  Come on.  An exhibit of stuff made out of cardboard?  Jeez.  An exhibit of photographs that people took on the road, or art inspired by being on the road?  Hamilton's paintings of lines, of lines?????   WTF?  Paintings of lines.  Think about it.  A guy that painted lines in different colors.  I love art, but this is what's known as crappy art.  The only thing I kind of liked was the cardboard monkeys hanging in the entrance area.  Also the areas where kids can make their own art projects, but other than that, you should probably not waste your time here.

1/15/2007

I love the fact that the San Jose Museum of Art has free admission. I go here often on my lunch breaks to soak in the exhibits without the kids. The kids love it too, though. My daughter especially loved the media exhibits!

1/24/2010

Had a great time here on a rainy day. We were excited to see that an "Ansel Adams: Early Works" exhibition was featured, so we stopped by and got student discounts for $5 each. We got a map at the front desk from a helpful staff member, who offered to hold our bags for us at the front for no charge. The ground-floor exhibits were in transition, so it was closed off, so we visited the top floor where Adams' works were. It was a very nice set-up, with photos as well as hands-on pieces. There were also two other exhibitions that I felt showcased a good variety of works. The bottom floor had a collection of animal-inspired pieces, along with some activities for children. I love how the museum encourages visitor participation by offering bags to borrow to sketch and share opinions of the art. Some of the pieces really caught my eye, and I was happy with the number of descriptions about pieces to really enrich the experience.

4/8/2006

I went here last night for a live art festival. The night was a very hip thing to do for the South Bay. The local artists arrived with their blank canvases and started painting until 12AM. Meanwhile, bands were playing in one room, freestyle hip-hop artists were rhyming in another room, and Native American Sioux dancers were performing in the third room. The museum was serving mixed drinks at a cash bar, and the DJs were playing music over the big JBLs. I never would have expected such an event in San Jose.  You could even place bids on the finished pieces of art from the local artists to add to your art collection.

I thought that this was a fantastic idea from the city of San Jose. It brought out a big range of people from the older artsy city types to the young skaters wanted to just bounce to the hip-hop. There definitely was a splash of class that this event brough to the South Bay. I presume that the museum even made some money off of the whole event. Overall, the live art festival in the beautiful new museum definitely added more culture just outside of San Francisco.

5/5/2008

Last time I came here to check out artwork, I had to pay. That made me sad. I guess noone is supporting the arts in this area? Lots of dope exhibits though.

2/6/2006

I used to be a docent at the museum so I'd like to make a plug for it (I retired because my class schedule was too demanding at the time). I've heard docents lately are getting pretty frustrated and bored because although many people are coming into the museum, no one is taking the docent led tours! Don't be frightened people! I don't want to hear any of this "I don't need a docent because I can think for myself" baloney either. Docents are trained to help enhance your experience of the museum- you never know, you may be really surprised and actually LEARN something....for FREE! They're not getting paid, so please, give them a chance- make them feel loved, and the time and effort they put into training, traveling and waiting in the lobby worth while. Pretty Please? (Tours are at 12 and 2- meet near the staircase adjacent to the main gallery entrance)

***They also have tours for the deaf on the second saturday of the month if I recall correctly***

Anyway, the museum itself is very cool. Since they're not getting admission fees anymore, they have to work a lot harder to get new and exciting shows up. But they always have interesting rotations and new artists. The only complaint I have, is if you go pretty regularly, and they happen to be filling an exhibit with pieces from their permanent collection, you're going to see a lot of the same pieces over and over again.
It's a small museum though, so I'd say "give em a break". Small but mighty. San Jose could use a little culture. heh ;)

3/4/2009

I like contemporary art, but it's a bummer that they started to charge admission fees.  Being the troublemaker I am, I accidentally broke a part of one of their sculptures.  Hey, the ceramic stick looked bendable and I was told that I wasn't the first person to do so...

4/25/2006

SJMA is as free as free can be. So go, its well worth it. They have excellent exhibitions and the art is fantastic. Joanne Northrup, senior curator at the museum is the neatest person. If you ever run into her grab her and chat about what you like or dislike about the art.

The ceiling is adorned with Chihuly glass chandeliers. They often have various exhibitions going on through out the gallery. They have an outside patio area on the second floor where they often display interesting sculptures.

On Sunday, they offer a program called Kids Art Sunday. Bring your kids and hang out for some artsy fartsy fun.

Occasionally they will have an art car event which last a day or so. Art cars are parked around the plaza on Market street. You should come to check it out.

This is a great place to bring a date, a friend, your kids, your grandma, your house keeper or the guy who takes your garbage way.

8/18/2005 Updated review

Some really cool items for grown-ups and for kids alike. Prices are a little high, but I guess the money goes back to the museum so it's for a good cause -- especially when admissions is free!

1/17/2009

I come to this museum about once a year just to see what's new. Admission, until a couple of years ago, was always free, but now it is overpriced at $8 for an adult. If you have a Bank of America card, admission is free for the card holder on the first weekend of the month.

To me, it is a medium size museum, with 5 galleries, but I've generally enjoyed the time I've spent there, although it usually takes me only about an hour or less to view all the galleries, depending on what is exhibited.

As with all museums, you might like some of what they have, and some you might not. But usually they seem to  have a good mix of paintings and items that hang from the ceiling, as well as pedestal and floor displays. And they usually have a good mix of historical/conventional and contemporary/unconventional pieces. There isn't anything on permanent display, so the experience will always be different if you only go now and then.

7/18/2008

Nice place to stroll through while downtown.  Minus one star because it used to be free, but I don'th think it costs that much still.  The exhibits are usually very interesting.  The museum houses a permanent collection, but the exhibits do cahnge.

9/17/2007

if this review were for camille rose garcia's tragic kingdom exhibit, then this place would get five stars. or maybe ten. or more. it was fucking amazing, and worth the wait i had to endure.

if you can go, GO. it closes next weekend, and you might be very, very sad if you miss it.

(here: sjmusart.org/content/exh…)

the rest of the museum is pretty nice, too.

4/27/2007

I quite enjoyed my visits to this museum during the Escher exhibits, but the real standout was the Listening Post.  I even got to meet the designers of the installation for lunch and got a backstage glimpse of the computers that run the piece.  Really awesome.  Pleasant museum, too-- spacious and easy to park close to.

5/14/2007

Their exhibits are always interesting, not too big, not too small. My favorite was Yoshitomo Nara. I've kind of lost interest since admission isn't free anymore. Who do they think they are? Take the light rail unless you want to pay for parking.

8/14/2007

This museum is a nice size. I dont get too fatigued after browsing it. Admission used to be free but the museum has since lost its funding. The current admission price is pretty cheap and students get a discount.

6/16/2008

Went here on Saturday with the kids. I was very disappointed. There was supposed to be an exhibit of robots. And I guess there were some robots, even some weird anatomically correct ones. But the neat stuff was not worth the price of admission. I have an appreciation for art, even abstract art, but I did not see the point in many of the exhibits. The staff there was like the gestapo, they followed us around making sure that we didn't take any pictures with our cell phones. There was a table of legos in the middle of one room, the challenge was to create your own robot art. My daughter built a decent robot and tried to take a picture of it. You would think that she pulled a gun. She was told she couldn't take a picture of the art. She replied, "but I am the artist". She was told that didn't matter.  Two of the gestapo staff huddled and came back and apologized and let her take a picture. All and all this was a complete waste of time.

3/22/2006

A Cool Free Museum.  It's a nice cultural diversion while relaxing or having dinner in downtown San Jose.  I like that this museum is small enough that you won't feel like you have to spend all day here, that you don't have enough time to read everything, nor that you can't possibly see all the displays before leaving.  It's the only museum where when I left I felt successful in the sense that I saw everything on display, appreciated it and had plenty of time for the rest of my day outside and accomplishing all my other things!  Be sure to visit.

6/2/2007

Not just a great place to see ART, the museum has a cafe whose lunches are awesome.  Better yet, you get to sit outside in the plaza and enjoy the atmosphere.

7/1/2006

Free entrance. More techie definitions of techie creativity. Nothing to get excited about. Maybe that's why it's free.

2/7/2009

I brought the kids here on the free Bank of America weekend only to find out I still had to pay for them. It's a very small museum. They did find some cool things and there is quite a bit of art and activities for the kids which I really appreciated. But it's a bit pricey for what you get.

9/28/2008

Would give this 3 1/2 if I could. The cost was ok ($8 regular/$5 student) for a little museum. For the two (main) exhibits, the Robots was excellent and the Colors was fair. The Robots was highlighted by a 30 feet tall robot statue made entirely of recycled Styrofoam packaging - freaking amazing! Wonder how many espresso makers he had to buy to build that thing.