Jeff Brouws: Inside The Live Reptile Tent
Robert Mann Gallery, New York
September 7 - November 3 2001
Robert Mann Gallery presents 'Jeff Brouws : Inside The Live Reptile Tent', an exhibition of the artist's photographs of carnivals and amusement parks. These vivid photographs are the result of his fascination with American life. As a teenager in the 1960s, Jeff Brouws hitchhiked from his family home in Daly City, California, to the seaside amusement park, Whitney's Playland-at-the-Beach. Intrigued by the seedy allure and surrealism of this quintessential American destination, he continues to mine the visually rich terrain of carnivals and amusement parks : futurist architecture, pulsing neon signs, ghostly silhouettes, maddening games of chance, bizarre sideshows, and serpentine roller coasters.The photographs of Jeff Brouws portray both the tumultuous energy of carnivals and parks when in operation, and their tranquil sadness when deserted or dismantled, bereft of the crowds upon which they thrive.
JEFF BROUWS was born in San Francisco, California, in 1955. He photographs extensively throughout North America, discovering beauty in commonplace surroundings. Jeff Brouws is drawn most often to derelict buildings and landscapes faded with the patina of time, seeking in these weathered surfaces the varied history of America, its aspirations and its failures. The exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery coincides with the publication of a book by the same name, 'Inside The Live Reptile Tent'. His work has been published previously in 'Highway : America's Endless Dream' and 'Twenty-Six Abandoned Gasoline Stations'. The photographs of Jeff Brouws are included in numerous public and private collections, including The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and The Cleveland Museum of Art.
ROBERT MANN GALLERY
210 Eleventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001
