Please join Robert Cottingham on a visual road trip. During the 1970s, he made numerous visits to cities across America. During these travels, he photographed cities and trains, which he later used as the source material for his paintings and prints. By visiting each place, you'll be able to share his experiences and hear him speak about the American scene and its evocative subject matter. Click on any of the locations on the map below to start your tour.

Click on a city to go directly to that stop on the tour.

In this section, the museum uses the artist's approach to explore issues in everyday life related to visual perception.

Cottingham's images show his fascination with the commercial signs that appear in our cities and towns. During his journeys, Cottingham discovered that such elaborate constructions do more than just convince us to buy something: they can also have a lasting effect on our point of view. Signs can trigger memories and emotions. Cottingham enjoys returning to his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, to look at signs he saw when he was a child. His experiences affect the way he creates. Would you see the same signs differently? What about the signs in your hometown?

When you infer the significance of visual information you are influenced by artistic choices. An earlier career in advertising taught Robert Cottingham the commercial techniques of enlargement and cropping as well as the direct and subliminal power of selective letters and words. Learn how artistic decisions affect your perception. Come with us and discover that there is more to it!

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