Route 66: The Road and The Romance
The Autry in Griffith Park: George Montgomery Gallery
Los Angeles
June 8, 2014 - January 4, 2015
A selection of black-and-white works by Jeff Brouws will be exhibited alongside Ed Ruscha's original photographs from Twentysix Gasoline Stations in a new exhibition at The Autry Center in Los Angeles, focused on the rise and fall of the famed Route 66. The museum writes:
In 1956, Route 66 was effectively bypassed by the Interstate Highway System. In this final section, the popularity of Route 66 is further diminished by air travel and the allure of attractions such as Disneyland and Las Vegas. The commercial exploitation of Route 66 by multinational chain stores, restaurants, and motels also eroded the unique appeal of the road. Ironically, the first McDonald's was opened along the route in San Bernardino in 1940. The exhibition documents the degradation of the road and its surrounding businesses with pieces of asphalt from the original roadway and several photographs from Ed Ruscha's Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1963) set alongside Jeff Brouws's stark 1991 "updates" of the same sites.
Read more about the exhibition here.