Just as the Ash Can School [3] turned to burgeoning cities for subject matter in the early twentieth century, suburbia has proven captivating to artists over the past few decades. But while many of them have tended to look outside city limits with a skeptical, ironic, or even condemning eye, this exhibit, organized around homes, stores, and roads, aims to go beyond stereotypical views. Among the works from some thirty architects, photographers, sculptors, and videographers, one favorite is Stefanie Nagorka [4], a sculptor who visits Home Depot stores, plucks materials for her pieces from the shelves, and assembles them right in the aisles or parking lot. Other artists look at the people-besides mom, dad, and 2.5 kids-living in all those tract houses (some of them are porn stars); propose revamping dead malls and big-box stores; and steal shots of suburbanites as they zoom around behind their steering wheels.

Walker Art Center [5], 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7622.