NEW YORK (AP) – There's nary a palm tree in sight. Or a coconut. Or a tranquil picture of clear blue ocean.

A new exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum aims to make viewers forget any stereotypes about the islands they may have by showcasing modern art from artists who live in the Caribbean or trace their roots back the tropical isles.

For the Brooklyn Museum to put on a show relating to the Caribbean is hardly surprising; it's located in a borough with a sizeable Caribbean population and even holds events in conjunction with the annual West Indian Day parade, which winds down the thoroughfare on which the museum is located.

It's also a museum that takes its role as part of Brooklyn very seriously.

"We service this community," said museum President Arnold Lehman. "We are the Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn is our base. We don't look to Manhattan for approbation, we don't look to London, we don't look to LA. We look to Brooklyn."

That willingness to go its own way from the mainstream art world has caused the Brooklyn Museum its share of criticism. Exhibits connected to hip-hop and to the "Star Wars" movies brought complaints that it was showcasing material that was too pop culture. The criticism lingers. In its review of the Caribbean art show, The New York Times wrote, "Nor will it give anyone who has problems with the maverick direction the Brooklyn Museum has been taking – and who does not? – much comfort."

Lehman, for one, does not have any problems with the direction the museum has been taking. He points out that the average age of visitors at his institution is 35, and that more than 40 percent of visitors are minorities.

He bristled at the idea that the museum would lower its institutional standards when presenting any material. "We don't compromise in terms of our exhibitions," he said. "We do these exhibitions at a level we believe is the level of excellence we apply to everything we do."

Tumelo Mosaka, curator of "Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art'', said it was not a case of either-or – that the museum put together an exhibit that was both responsive to the community and artistically rigorous.

"We can do both, it doesn't have to be one or the other," he said.

The show, which runs through January 27, features 45 artists who trace their roots to over a dozen Caribbean countries. Many still live in those countries, others are in Diaspora communities. The show features about 80 works, several of which were specifically commissioned, and a range of media from paintings to video.

The show is loosely grouped in four sections: Politics and Identity, History and Memory, Popular Culture and Myth, Belief and Religion. The artists take on a range of subjects. In one piece, a portrait of the Queen is made out of items including plastic swords, fake flowers and coins; it references the violent history of colonialism, and shows how colonisers and those colonised can influence each other's culture.

In another, "Pure Plantainum'', a plantain covered with platinum is the artist's way of looking at rampant consumerism, and evokes the "bling" worn by many celebrities.

In putting together the show, Mosaka was determined to stay away from popular images of the Caribbean. "I was clear that I didn't want to deal with work that has largely participated within the sort of tourism vocabulary – there's a lot of that in all the islands," he said. "I wanted to look at work that was much more interrogative."

He also decided not to involve Brooklyn's sizable Caribbean community. While he wanted the show to be responsive, he didn't want it to be held prisoner to what others thought, to get into situations where different groups would feel they had a say in influencing what was in the show.

"When you start that process, then there's expectation," he said. "You have to be careful."

He hoped visitors would find the final result thought-provoking, that it would "make people reconsider their own stereotypes, their own limited understanding of what the region has to offer."

Also showing this month:

■ "Here Is New York: Remembering 9/11/01'', New-York Historical Society, through January 1: Commemorating the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, this exhibit features 1,500 photographs along with artifacts and oral histories.

■ "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art'', The Metropolitan Museum of Art, through January 6: For fans of Dutch art, this is not a show to miss. All of the museum's 228 paintings will be on view .

■ "Brushed With Light: American Landscape Watercolours From the Collection'', Brooklyn Museum, through January 13: There are a lot of well-known names in this exhibit of 80 works, such as Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins and Edward Hopper.

■ "Piranesi as Designer'', Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, through January 20: Piranesi was a printmaker in the 18th century, and was highly influential on both his contemporaries as well as on architects today.

■ "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art'', Metropolitan Museum, through February 3: This collection was given to the museum in 2006. The exhibit features 63 works, from artists including Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

■ "This Is War! Robert Capa at Work'', "Gerda Taro'', "Other Weapons: Photography and Print Culture During the Spanish Civil War'', and "Dark Is the Room Where We Sleep: A Project by Francesc Torres'', International Center of Photography, Sepember 25 through January 6: These four shows all deal with issues of conflict and war.

■ "Impressed by Light: British Photographs From Paper Negatives, 1840-1860'', Metropolitan Museum, through December 30: This is a show of calotypes, works made from paper negatives. Many of the items in this show have never been exhibited in the United States.

■ "Painted With Words: Vincent van Gogh's Letters to Emile Bernard'', The Morgan Museum, September 28 through January 6: These 20 letters give a first-hand look into van Gogh's life during the time he spent in Arles in 1888 and 1889.