Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes

Just
as the Ash Can School turned to burgeoning cities for subject matter in the
early twentieth century, suburbia has proven captivating to artists over the
past few decades. But while many of them have tended to look outside city
limits with a skeptical, ironic, or even condemning eye, this exhibit,
organized around homes, stores, and roads, aims to go beyond stereotypical
views. Among the works from some thirty architects, photographers, sculptors,
and videographers, one favorite is Stefanie Nagorka, a sculptor who visits Home
Depot stores, plucks materials for her pieces from the shelves, and assembles
them right in the aisles or parking lot. Other artists look at the
people-besides mom, dad, and 2.5 kids-living in all those tract houses (some of
them are porn stars); propose revamping dead malls and big-box stores; and
steal shots of suburbanites as they zoom around behind their steering wheels.

Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7622.