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Photography Exhibition, “Vision of an American dreamland” N.Y.

VISIONS OF AN AMERICAN DREAMLAND, 1861-2008
America through the Coney Island kaleidoscope
The spirit of Coney Island comes alive in ’Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008’. The exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum traces the evolution of the Coney Island phenomenon from tourist destination during the civil war to the biggest playground in the world, from iconic nostalgic site and years of urban decline to its recent revival as a vibrant growing community. Looking back over a period of 150 years, the exhibition features 140 objects including paintings, drawings, photographs, posters, carousel animals, period films. Also on display, ‘Coney Forever’, 42 photographs from the Brooklyn Museum collection. An amazing variety of artists viewed Coney Island as an emblematic microcosm of America. ‘Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008’ includes the first images of the popular beach by the Impressionist artists like William Merritt Chase and John Henry Twachtman, modernist depictions of the amusement park by Joseph Stella, Depression-Era scenes of cheap thrills by Reginald Marsh, photographs by Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Weegee, Bruce Davidson, contemporary works by Daze and Swoon. “The modern American mass culture industry originated in Coney Island”, explains the curator Robin Jaffee Frank. “What artists saw in Coney Island, and the various ways in which they chose to portray it, reflects the aspirations and disappointments of the those times. These representations become metaphors for the collective soul of an entire nation”. From November 20th, 2015 to March, 13th March 2016 at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

brooklynmuseum.org

CollezioniDonna n.169 spring/summer 2016, Ottobre 2015

The Hug- Closed Eyes and Smile, 1982_Stein
Coney Island Embrace, New York City_Engel

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