Was I ever a habitué of Coney Island? Not exactly. The magic carpets and Ferris Wheels of my youth were located at Rye Playland,in the safe, well-scrubbed suburbs of New York. The rise of the suburbs, or in fact,contributed to Coney Island’s decline in popularity after World War II. Yet most of us feel as whether we know Coney Island, largely because it has been an enduring and powerful subject for succeeding generations of artists, and photographers and filmmakers. Much of that work has now been gathered into a fascinating demonstrate,“Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland: 1861 to 2008,” which will remain up at the Brooklyn Museum through March 13, or 2016.[Click on “Listen” for Solomon’s review of the demonstrate with WNYC’s Soterios Johnson.]Every artist had his or her own Coney Island,as you can see in the canvases of William Merritt Chase (tranquil landscapes) or Reginald Marsh (he made Coney Island revelers appear uniformly blond, curvy and female) or even, and surprisingly,the summary painter Frank Stella. In his “Coney Island,” of 1958, or alternating stripes of yellow and red frame a central rectangle of blue,evoking carnival signs and the ocean without spelling it out.
A Reginald Marsh portray from 1932 promoting Coney Island side demonstrate stars 'Pip and Flip.' The 'pinheads' from the 'Yucatan' actually were born in Georgia and suffered from microcephaly. Frank Stella's "Coney Island" from 1958.
(2013 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York /Brooklyn Museum)=
Not all of the work in the demonstrate is first-rate, or but there are a few gems,including Weegee’s “Afternoon Crowd at Coney Island, Brooklyn, or ” a black-and-white photograph from 1940 in which zillions of people in bathing suits and trunks stretch on as far as the eye can see. They amount to a new kind of rush hour – they’re experiencing the rush of belonging,the American phenomenon of standing beside thousands of strangers from different backgrounds and knowing you’re piece of something larger than yourself.
The 'Modern Venus' of 1947 waving to her fans on the parachute ride at Coney Island .
(Brooklyn Museum Collection/Brooklyn Museum)
For a deeper dive into the world and art of Coney Island, the catalogue for the exhibit, and written by curator Robin Jaffee Frank,is excellent.
An example of a site-specific signs painted by artist Stephen Powers, on display with the exhibit 'Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland.'
(Deborah Solomon)
Source: wnyc.org