B.A.rts

The Arts are ever present here in the city. Ornate architecture, colorful graffiti and sculptures ranging from the underwhelming to the massive, greet us at almost every turn.

Saturday, we ride the Subte up into the Palermo barrio with the intention of visiting the MALBA (Museo des Artes Latinoamericano des Buenos Aires).





Before arriving, we pass by the Monumento Bartolomé Mitre... yet another heroic fellow atop a huge rearing horse (hey, we already know... they weren't horses those fellows were riding... they were donkeys!!!). Which prompts Jenn to suggest that we get a donkey and call him "Hotay" ("Why's that?" asks Keir, only to fall directly into the trap that Jenn planned, "So that he would be Donkey-Hotay! Don Quixote?!?! Get it?!?!").

Crossing the road (or multi-lane highway with stoplights as far as we can tell), we stop by one of the city's newest sculptures, the impressive Floralis Genérica. Made from airplane fuselage donated by Lockheed Martin (ha!) the sculpture is an imposing 25 meter high aluminum and steel flower that opens and closes daily/nightly.






There are no benches nearby to sit on and admire the sculpture — or nothing nearby enough for our liking. We do eventually find one to rest our barking dogs at, but given that it has been raining all through the night, we are essentially sitting on a bench in a mud pit. The neighboring tree (on whose flowers the sculpture is modeled), shows us how hospitable the area is (those are spikes!!!).









After a little snack, we move on to the MALBA. At the most expensive gallery we've yet to visit (a whopping $22 pesos!!!), we take our time wandering through the diverse collection of modern Latin American art. We both find that a manageable amount of work is on display and the building itself is quite appealing. We do lunch in the atrium-like gallery cafe which is the priciest place we've eaten at so far. But, still good!