75 Reasons to Live: Leslie Shows on Arthur Dove’s Silver Ball No. 2

Artist Leslie Shows on Arthur Dove's Silver Ball No. 2 (1930). “I love the literalness of using metallic silver paint to depict a silver ball,“ she says, “yet he also uses this silver paint in the atmosphere around the silver ball, so the silver depicts not only silver but depicts the luminousness of moonlight.“ For Shows, the painting suggests “a consciousness observing the world and the world looking back.“Remember the end of Manhattan, when Woody Allen asks himself what makes life worth living? In January 2010, during SFMOMA's three-day 75th anniversary celebration, 75 people from the Bay Area creative community gave extremely short talks — 7.5 minutes or less! — on a single collection work of their choosing. Someone called it “manic splendor“ — and it was. You can view all of the talks on The Anniversary Show exhibition page. Or look for them here, on Open Space.