ARTISTS
Kibbitz & Nosh: New York City鈥檚 Vanished Cafeterias
Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center is pleased to present Kibbitz & Nosh: New York City鈥檚 Vanishing Cafeterias, an exhibition of over 25 photographs by Marcia Bricker Halperin documenting the waning years of New York City鈥檚 self-service dining establishments. Among the locations she photographs between 1975 and 1985 are Horn & Hardart automats and Dubrow鈥檚, a popular family-owned chain of cafeteria-style restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn that closed its doors in 1985. Halperin鈥檚 black-and-white photographs recall some of Edward Hopper鈥檚 most iconic oil paintings, such as Automat (1927, Des Moines Art Center), Chop Suey (1929, private collection), Sunlight in the Cafeteria (1952, Yale University Art Gallery), and, of course, Nighthawks (1842, Art Institute of Chicago). Both artists capture figures at popular eateries in isolated contemplation or private social interaction.
As Hopper鈥檚 canvases from the 1920s to 鈥�50s suggest, midcentury New York was stippled by restaurants offering low-priced food and beverage. Their growth coincided with swelling immigration, an expanding middle class and workforce, and the upward independence and evolving roles for women. Like Hopper, Halperin creates open-ended narratives by portraying figures engaged in isolated contemplation or private social interaction within the eateries鈥� atmospheric architectural interiors. Privy to the moment, the photographer, as the painter, remains on the outside looking in.
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Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center is pleased to present Kibbitz & Nosh: New York City鈥檚 Vanishing Cafeterias, an exhibition of over 25 photographs by Marcia Bricker Halperin documenting the waning years of New York City鈥檚 self-service dining establishments. Among the locations she photographs between 1975 and 1985 are Horn & Hardart automats and Dubrow鈥檚, a popular family-owned chain of cafeteria-style restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn that closed its doors in 1985. Halperin鈥檚 black-and-white photographs recall some of Edward Hopper鈥檚 most iconic oil paintings, such as Automat (1927, Des Moines Art Center), Chop Suey (1929, private collection), Sunlight in the Cafeteria (1952, Yale University Art Gallery), and, of course, Nighthawks (1842, Art Institute of Chicago). Both artists capture figures at popular eateries in isolated contemplation or private social interaction.
As Hopper鈥檚 canvases from the 1920s to 鈥�50s suggest, midcentury New York was stippled by restaurants offering low-priced food and beverage. Their growth coincided with swelling immigration, an expanding middle class and workforce, and the upward independence and evolving roles for women. Like Hopper, Halperin creates open-ended narratives by portraying figures engaged in isolated contemplation or private social interaction within the eateries鈥� atmospheric architectural interiors. Privy to the moment, the photographer, as the painter, remains on the outside looking in.
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