BROOKLYN, N.Y.- The Brooklyn Museum of Art will present Looking Back from Ground Zero: Images from the Brooklyn Museum Collection, August 30, 2006–January 7, 2007 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Drawn from the Museum’s collections, it includes photographs, paintings, drawings, books, and prints. Ranging from 19th-century vintage photographs to contemporary works, the exhibition focuses on the lower Manhattan area around the World Trade Center before, during, and after the attack. In addition to historical maps of Manhattan, the exhibition includes several books by artists reflecting issues related to September 11th. The books on view, including the work of Art Spiegelman and Mimi Gross, offer a variety of artists’ personal responses to the 9/11 event and its global aftereffect.

Among the works on view are photographs by the photojournalist G.N. Miller, who covered the collapse of the towers for the New York Post. In contrast to Miller’s tragic photographs, images by Berenice Abbot, Consuelo Kanaga, and Dr. Drahomir Ruzicka capture New York City’s urban progress during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Gerard Maynard presents an optimistic reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in his photograph WTC 11.11.03.

Looking Back from Ground Zero: Images from the Brooklyn Museum Collection, is being co-organized by Marilyn Kushner, Curator and Chair, Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, and Deirdre E. Lawrence, Principal Librarian/Coordinator of Research Services. This exhibition is made possible in part by Independence Community Foundation and other generous contributors.