Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008

FAIN: GI-50540-13

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (Hartford, CT 06103-2911)
Robin Jaffee Frank (Project Director: August 2012 to April 2016)

Implementation of a traveling exhibition, a catalog, and public programs about the history of Coney Island and its depiction in art and popular culture over the last 150 years.

"Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008" will be the first major art exhibition to investigate America's playground as a place and an idea, from its beginnings as a watering hole for the wealthy, through its transformation into an entertainment mecca for the masses, to the closing of its last amusement park, Astroland, following decades of urban decline. The exhibition will feature approximately 140 objects--many of them revered icons of American art--including paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, posters, architectural artifacts, and exuberant carousel animals. A world-famous resort and a national cultural symbol, Coney Island has inspired not only groundbreaking art, but also music, literature, and films. Therefore, in this multimedia exhibition, works of art will be supplemented by film clips, sound recordings, and ephemera that will immerse visitors in the popular culture of Coney Island.

Associated Products

Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland 1861-2008 (Catalog)
Title: Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland 1861-2008
Author: Robin Jaffee Frank
Abstract: "Called "America's playground," Coney Island is a world-famous resort and national cultural symbol that has inspired music, literature, and films. This groundbreaking book is the first to look at the site's enduring status as inspiration for artists throughout the ages, from its inception as an elite seaside resort in the mid-19th century, to its evolution into an entertainment mecca for the masses, with the eventual closing of its iconic amusement park, Astroland, in 2008 after decades of urban decline. How artists chose to portray Coney Island between 1861 and 2008--in tableaux of wonder and menace, hope and despair, dreams and nightmares--mirrored the aspirations and disappointments of the era. This dazzling catalogue highlights more than 200 images from Coney Island's history, including paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, posters, film stills, architectural artifacts, and carousel animals. An extraordinary array of artists is represented, from George Bellows, William Merritt Chase, Reginald Marsh, and Joseph Stella to Diane Arbus, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robert Frank, Red Grooms, Weegee, and Swoon. Essays by prominent scholars analyze Coney Island through its imagery and ephemera as both a place and an idea--one that reflected the collective soul of the nation." -- Publisher's description.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://thewadsworth.org/exhibitions/coneyisland/
Secondary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/coney-island-visions-of-an-american-dreamland-1861-2008/oclc/886493343&referer=brief_results
Catalog Type: Exhibition Catalog
Publisher: Yale University Press

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