in which my art illiteracy becomes apparent...

Most of the time I forget about my corporate discount privileges, but lately I've been flashing my badge to get into some worthy museums, most recently the Whitney and the Guggenheim. Of note:

William Eggleston at the Whitney through January 25. You know how some hipsters manage to take really gorgeous, unpretentious snapshots? That's what this guy was doing in the '60s. He loved playing with color and capturing moments. There's also fun with early portable camcorders. And we saw Chris Parnell at this exhibit, who looked sort of old and short in person.

Alexander Calder at the Whitney through February 15. You know him for his mobiles. What you don't know are his fantastically witty mechanical toys, his whimsical motion-art and his charming crayon sketches. I can't quite put my finger on what was so delightful about everything on exhibit, but we did overhear one lady say, "Well, he must've been a lovely person." And I think that about sums it up.

Theanyspacewhatever at the Guggenheim through January 7. Granted, we started at the bottom and worked our way up, and it wasn't until we were exiting that we noticed the "Please begin at the top" sign. I felt like a lot of the installations went right over my head (possibly because I was missing the posted signs), but I did love the evocative phrases stenciled at random on walls and supports. They said things like "You're closer than you think." and "It's better not to know." Also, the Pinocchio floating face-down in a pool.

I'm not great at describing art, but all were worth checking out. Go see!