Last week, I got a sneak peek of the new Claudia Comte exhibit at the MOCA Cleveland, Zigzags and Diagonals, and damn is it bold. Even though it made me dizzy, I couldn’t look away from the huge gradient zigzag wall painting.
I’m usually not a huge museum person, but hearing Claudia Comte speak about her process and being able to watch her and her team put the finishing touches on her work was awesome.
The gradient was hand painted, so you can see some imperfections/evidence of a human touch when you get up close to the wall. Then the stencil was applied and the wall was painted black. She talked about how the mood in the space changed completely when they covered up the rainbow wall with solid black.
The diagonal piece was made using a roller and I love the shift in texture from the top to the bottom as the paint runs out.
Brewnuts made custom donuts that perfectly matched the gradient on the zigzag wall. They paired great with champagne and I could feel my post-Whole30 heart start racing after one bite.
It took all of my self-restraint to not start peeling the tape off the wall. Watching it happen was almost as good as doing it yourself:
The giant wall is a perfect backdrop for selfies (share yours with #MOCAZigzags) or a picture of someone taking a photo of a group taking a selfie.
I left feeling so inspired and I’m happy that I recently started painting as a hobby again. Even though my canvases are nowhere near as large as this museum wall, I’m loving making things again. I still want to peel tape off a giant surface though, so if anyone can make that happen for me, I’ll love you forever.
MOCA Cleveland Details
The museum was just renovated and will be reopening this weekend. Opening night starts at 7 pm on February 16th and is free to the public. The giant zigzag wall painting is in the Gund Commons which is always completely free, so you can pop in and stare at the wall and take your pics without having to pay to go in the full museum. Admission to the full museum is $9.50.
