If the Met's grand reopening this past weekend felt like a big, boisterous reunion, the Museum of Modern Art's return from its five-month coronavirus closure has more of a laid-back vibe. In fact, you will never again see MoMA as devoid of people as you will right now.
So if you want to explore one of the world's premiere collections of modern and contemporary art with almost no one else around, gazing as long as you like at some of the most famous paintings in history, the time to grab a ticket is right now. Bonus: admission is free, for everyone, through September 27th.
The reason for all the blissfully empty space is not lack of public enthusiasm — the museum had expected to attract some 3.5 million visitors in 2020, the first year since its $450 million expansion and reorganization last fall. But MoMA is not messing around in these early reopening days, keeping attendance "well below" 25% capacity for now by only allowing a maximum of 100 guests per hour to enter the building.
MoMA has an array of other pandemic protocols in place as well. A high-tech temperature-reading machine greets you upon arrival — stare at the "black box," as instructed by the security team, and it lasers your forehead from several feet away — and your bag will be scanned in contactless fashion as you carry it through a scanner. There's no bag check, so make sure whatever you carry in is lightweight.
Masks are required, of course, and compliance was universal this week when I was there. Distancing reminders and sanitizer dispensers are everywhere, capacity is limited on elevators, resting areas, and certain galleries, and there are no physical audio guides or paper maps available anymore, though you can access both on your phone via the MoMA app. All the cafes remain closed, though the gift shops and bookstores are open.
MoMA's permanent collection, featuring works from the 1880s to the present day, is broken into chronological chunks and arranged by floor. You could spend hours and days on these galleries alone, but there are also several special exhibitions that shouldn't be missed, including the sensational Donald Judd show on the sixth floor, which was only open a couple of weeks before the shutdown in March, and is now extending its run into January.
There are two brand-new exhibitions as well. Cinematic Illumination by Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver is a dynamic, 360-degree slide show featuring some 1,500 bits of found imagery and a killer soundtrack of, when I was watching, British Mod tunes from the 1960s. And Félix Fénéon: The Anarchist and the Avant-Garde—From Signac to Matisse and Beyond offers a collection of
pieces championed by the French art critic and collector around the turn of the 20th century, headlined by George Seurat's most famous work, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."
One more new addition: Milton Glaser's iconic I Heart NY logo takes the place of Haim Steinbach's "Hello. Again." in the lobby.
For the first month of reopening, MoMA's hours will be Tuesday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with Mondays reserved for members only. Admission is free through September 27th, with timed-ticket slots opening up each Friday at 10 a.m. for the following week. Complete details about all of the above can be found at MoMA.org.
