User:Mopsybun/Suburban art

SUBURBAN ART- Suburban art can be defined as art created in or about the suburbs. Traditionally suburban culture has not been given much credit in the art world as a place where "Serious" art could arise. To quote Beth Cooney who writes for the Greenwich Times, "When it comes to art, the suburbs don't get much respect." The reasons for this vary but possibly have to do with the relative isolation of the artist in the suburbs. With the prolitheration of the Internet this isolation may be changing. In recent years a number of artist and writers as well as filmmakers have been looking at the suburbs as a source of inspiration. "Stalking Suburbia" at the Westport Arts Center, Westport, Ct., Suburban Primitive at the Florence Arts Center,Florence,Or. and the "Urban/Suburban" exhibit at the Ghost Pony Gallery [1]in Truchas, New Mexico were all recent shows that derived inspiration from the burbs. Bill Owen's photo book "Suburbia" and Anthony Haden's article "Suburban Dada", Art in America,June,July 2006. Show a critical interest in suburban life. The cartoonist Eddie Fitzgerald and such movies as "The Burb" [2]staring Tom Hanks as well as the TV show "Desperate Housewife's" all derive a kind of dark humor from the suburban culture. Will this interest lead to a major movement developing in the suburbs? Impossible to say but to quote Eddie Fitzgerald. "Life happens in fast food places just like it does in Arab street bazaars and picturesque province streets." Where there is life there is art, where there is art, anything is possible. Artist who explore suburban art themes include- Eddie Fitzgerald, Stephen Haley [3], Bill Owens [4], Jeff Raglus, Carl Knickenbocker [5], Ronald Walker.