Bill Owens: "Suburbia"

"Suburbia" by Bill Owens, retrieved from http://www.americansuburbx.com

I chose "Suburbia" by Bill Owens due to the feelings of Americana, nostalgia and familiarity the picture instills. On the surface, this image shows a house with a car, boat, and a family. Due to the size of the house, and style of car, it isn’t a huge leap of logic to guess that we see a middle class family from the ‘60s.  Because the car is loaded up with luggage and a boat, the family is probably posing for a picture before they head out on a vacation.  

While it isn’t really an experimental or technically challenging image, I enjoy looking at how it has captured the essence of a typical American family. Details like the antenna on the roof, the dog, or the manicured lawn reminds me of a sort of “Brady Bunch” era of American history. The parents smile as their three children look a little less interested (perhaps due to the sun or perhaps it’s because they hate posing for pictures).

While this photograph could be replicated today with newer cars, I feel like an image like this isn’t seen anymore. The familiarity stems because it reminds me of my own family vacations when I was younger, but the nostalgia comes because this sort of “typical” American family has faded considerably. The middle class America that this picture represents has shrunk. The recent recession made something like owning a boat or going on vacation a bit harder for families to enjoy. Even nuclear families (which the image depicts) are fewer in number today.

“Suburbia” is an interesting image because it creates a duality of familiar and unfamiliar. As I said before, it would be easy to replicate the photo today, yet I can’t think of the last time my family and I posed for a picture on our way to a vacation. I can’t recall of any families doing that anymore. It captures a piece of the American middle class that might not really exist anymore.

Berman Art Experience

The Interior of a Nobleman's Gallery by David Teniers the Younger. 

            During my trip to the Berman Museum, I was surprised at how little was on display. Evidently, my visit was during a transitional period, and I could tell that the museum was in the process of installing new art displays. As I was walking along the (mostly empty) walls, my eye was caught on a painting that was clearly older than anything else I’d seen yet. The painting, The Interior of a Nobleman’s Gallery by David Teniers the Younger captured my attention for the remainder of the trip.

            I was surprised to see just how old the painting was when I got up closer to it. Although no exact date was given, it was estimated to have been created around 1630-1640. Despite being older than the country, it has held up quite well. The room it was displayed in was mostly filled with various photographs, so the painting and its unique style really stood out among everything else.

            While its realistic style wasn’t overly exciting, it was the content of the painting (and not just its age or the fact that it is a painting) that intrigued me the most. As suggested by its title, it is a painting of a group of paintings. Having never seen something like this before, it was really interesting to view each tiny painting individually.  Even now, I’m still picking up little details I missed the first few times I looked at it.

Furthermore, I began to imagine how wealthy a person must have been (in the time period) to have acquired such a large collection. I wondered if someone of average wealth in this time period would have been privileged to have even seen a few paintings in their lifetime. Did David Teniers the Younger create this piece to give art to the masses (by allowing them to see a picture of the collection), or was it just another addition to this nobleman’s already large collection? The fact that museums exist now (such as the Berman), which allow the masses to view and appreciate art is something that I appreciate a little more now. Everyone, regardless of their class can view and appreciate a piece of art.