I went to the prada musuem this morning. Its one of those vast European art musuems with hundreds of rooms and thousands of pieces of art, each one more priceless than the last. The world of art is amazing but it can be difficult for a naive viewer such as myself to get into when I have no historical. cultural, or technical knowledge about the works of art. Its hard to be impressed by an artwork when you don´t know what inspired the artist to create the work or what kinds of techniques he used to make the effects you are viewing.

On my last European adventure I stopped going to art musuems after my trip to the Louvre (well I went to one afterwords in Florence but that was only because they had my namesake, the statue of David). The Louvre was so huge and had so many works on every wall that I couldn´t concentrate my attention on any of it. Plus on the way to see the Mona Lisa I had to walk through a million rooms with pictures of Jesus and Mary. Jesus fucking Christ appears in so much art. I get his importance and all but I would be happy if I never saw his face again. Italian and Spanish painters don´t seem to paint much of anything else. I much prefer this:

To this:


My favorite works in the Prada were by Bosch, Goya, and Breugel. The Garden of Earthly Delights is an amazing painting. There are tons of little scenes that can catch your attention. And its not just the sex and violence which attracts me to this painting. The buildings and other structures are so bizaarre looking and fantastical. They draw my mind out of the mundane world and into the world of dreamscapes and fantasies. Art should inspire creativity and spur the mind. The best art draws on the irrantional and insane side of human nature. Religious art is repertitive because it evokes the same emotions, worship and awe, while impressionistic or subjective art draws from all the experiences and emotions of the artist. All looking at pictures of Jesus does for me is make me realize how much of an atheist I am.