Date: Sep 20, 2007

Hofstra Museum Explores Suburbia with the 60th Anniversary of Levittown

"Photographing Suburbia: Crewdson, Owens and Weiner" features prominent photographers of suburbia

 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra University Museum presents Photographing Suburbia: Crewdson, Owens and Weiner, a photographic exhibit in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Levittown, in the Hofstra University Museum's Rachel and Irwin A. Lowenfeld Conference and Exhibition Hall on the 10th floor of the Joan and David E. Axinn Library, south campus from September 24 through December 9, 2007.

This exhibition will showcase prominent American photographers Gregory Crewdson, Bill Owens and Dan Weiner, whose subject matter is primarily suburbia.

Gregory Crewdson is best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighborhoods. Bill Owens is best known for his photographs of suburban domestic scenes which were published in the book Suburbia in 1973. Dan Weiner’s work often appeared in Fortune magazine before he died tragically in 1959. Weiner chronicled the usual suburban subjects of the 1950s with a gentle subversion. 

“The creation of suburbia as a subject for art photography is a larger cultural project that reflects and contributes to our basic ideas about suburbia as a way of life. That cultural project tries to define what differentiates suburban culture from the rural culture of farm life or the urban culture of industrialization and crowded streets,” said Daniel R. Rubey, Ph.D., M.L.S., Dean of Library and Information Services at Hofstra University, and the curator of this exhibition.

The photographic images in this exhibition will convey multiple aspects of suburbia’s import upon our changing society, as they invite the viewer to search beyond the surface to a deeper context and meaning.

“Daniel Rubey has done a masterful job of selecting specific images that provide us with a glimpse into the different decades of suburban life in America, and the changing definition of “community” that has evolved through the years,” said Beth Levinthal, director of the Hofstra University Museum.

For more information on this exhibit call (516) 463-5672 or for more exhibit information visit the Hofstra University Museum website at http://www.hofstra.edu/COM/Museum/index_Museum.cfm.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution offering more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, professors teach small classes averaging 23 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.