Afternoon with things that glitter and sparkle...

It was a packed day today.

I'm a bit tired so I'll just post first about what I did in the afternoon. Today is the last day of the The Art & Science of Gems exhibit at the ArtScience Museum. The exhibit featured pieces from the French jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels as well as some pieces from the French National Museum of Natural History.

It's the last day of the exhibit today and I do know that Mon would be interested to see the exhibit as he loves jewellery. Haha! Unfortunately, Rich couldn't join us as he's still in Manila. Ian is also overseas. Jon had work. Meanwhile, JB was also keen to go.

The three of us met at the entrance to the ArtScience Museum at 420ish and spent the next 2 hours at the exhibit.

It was a wonderful exhibit. Of course, seeing all the precious gems and stones was awesome. However, what I really admired was the craftsmanship of the men and women behind the jewels. Amazing, just amazing. One can really see the passion and the dedication to create beautiful things in the works.

One of the highlights of the exhibit was a section showcasing the jewellery owned by some of the world's most stylish women includng Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace of Monaco, and the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson. What I loved the most were the gorgeous vanity cases! I want one! Haha!

I read an article about the exhibit and I simply loved this quote from the president of the French National Museum of Natural History, “There is a difference between the value and the price. It has big value, but I don’t know the price because we do not intend to sell it. It has big historical value and mineralogical value. It is something completely exceptional.”

I couldn't agree more!

Sunday morning with Andy Warhol...

Just like my pre-birthday lunch yesterday, I decided at the last minute to finally go and see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Art Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands.

The exhibit was supposed to have ended last 12 August, but it was extended until today.

Sunday morning was supposed to be spent with Melvin for our monthly nature walk/hike but he cancelled since he wasn't feeling well.

My other plan for the day was still in the afternoon so it gave me just enough time to head down to MBS for the exhibit.

Also, I decided to go very early so I can avoid any crowd. Haha! I can be kiasu sometimes. Can't really blame me, right? It is the last day of the exhibit after all. Hehe!

The museum opens at 10AM. I was there at 958. As soon as the counter opened, I got my ticket and headed straight to level 3.

15 Minutes Eternal was mounted to commemorate the 25th death anniversary of one of the greatest pop artists ever - Andy Warhol.

His most popular works would probably be the Campbell's Soup Can prints, the Marilyn Monroe prints and a self-portrait which I found out was entitled Fright Wig.

Over 260 paintings, drawings and sculptures were on exhibit. There were also audio-visual presentations showing him at work as well as a showcase of items he owned and used in creating his art.

Through the exhibit, I actually learned more about the artist. The exhibit took me through four stages of Andy Warhol's life.

There were some works of his which I ended up lingo more than the iconic multi-color portraits of Marilyn Monroe and other stars/celebrities.

The ones that I really, really liked were the Endangered Species collection. Warhol created a series of ten color screenprints that portrayed endangered animals from around the world. I really loved the colors.

By the time I finished the exhibit, I had a better appreciation of his work and contemporary art. I was also glad to have seen other pieces of his aside from the usual iconic ones. Uhm, if I were to be asked what I thought was awesome about him, I would have to say that it was the way he transformed everyday mundane objects into art pieces.

Really glad to have been able to catch this exhibit.

Oh, and I think there's no need to say that the exhibit title was inspired by a statement of the artist in 1968 whereby he said...

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

There is some truth to this, I must say.