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Brooklyn Abroad

September 16, 2006- October 21, 2006

Reception: September 16, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Andrea Robbins & Max Becher

Sonnabend

536 W 22nd St


On September 16, 2006 Sonnabend Gallery will open “Brooklyn Abroad”, an exhibition of new works by Andrea Robbins and Max Becher.

“Brooklyn Abroad” is comprised of two series: “770” and “Postville”. Both focus on the Brooklyn-based Lubavitchers, the largest of the Hasidic Jewish groups. In the 770 project, Robbins and Becher have photographed replicas of 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY, the headquarters for Lubavitch Jews and the home of their last Rabbi, the Rebbe Menachem Schneerson. The locations of the 770 replicas (called 770's) were photographed in such diverse places as Israel, Argentina, Milan, Australia and Los Angeles. Some replicas are very exact, others more stylized or adapted; all resemble the original 770 in Brooklyn, NY.

The series Postville depicts a town nestled in the picturesque Iowa countryside with the largest per capita rabbi population in the world. Due to a major kosher meat processing plant, a community has developed around the plant, comprising a modern American version of a shtetl. The images show Lubavitchers in the Midwestern landscape performing ordinary local activities like fishing, lawn mowing, shopping, playing baseball and paint ball, without compromising their religious traditions.

Along with the exhibit, a book "Brooklyn Abroad" has been published and will be available at the gallery. Included are essays by Rupert Pfab and Nora M. Alter, who writes:

"Whatever the importance invested elsewhere in seeking to achieve architectural verisimilitude in the 770 buildings, in Postville the signs of Hasidism are worn on the human body in the form of their clothes and accessories. The characters seem to play themselves as Hasidim, their gestures pointing to the theatrical and consciously performative dimension of their identity. Their performance becomes an external promotion of their culture just like the architecture of 770 replicas signals their Hasidim identity. In both instances, religious beliefs are reduced to a seriality of visual signifiers — whether standard red brick stones or uniform black pants and Tzitzits. The propagation of religion is enacted both by its theatrical presentation and by its reliance on modern marketing strategies of production and dissemination. Religion therefore becomes yet one more form of serialization."

Parallel to this show, Sonnabend Gallery will also present an exhibition of works by Boyd Webb.

Books and DVDs related to artists in this show

Location   Gallery Sonnabend Address 536 W 22nd St New York (Chelsea) NY, 10011 United States Phone 212-627-1018 Fax 212-627-0489 Hours Tue-Sat 10-6

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