Fantastic Views

By Elin Spring

Two solo shows that opened recently in NYC are ostensibly American views of foreign lands, but in very distinctive ways, they transcend their outward appearances. Gail Albert Halaban’s “Out My Window” at Edwynn Houk Gallery through July 26^th and Allen Frame’s “Suddenly” at Gitterman Gallery through August 16^th, 2019 not only transport us into enchanting fantasies but swell into a sense of shared intimacy. Please note: there will be a Reception for Allen Frame at the Gitterman Gallery TONIGHT Thursday, June 20th, 2019 from 6:00 – 8:00pm.

“Figures on the Pier, Positano, Italy, 2018” by Allen Frame (courtesy of the artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC).

“Out My Window, Red Kimono, San Marco, Venice, October 2017” by Gail Albert Halaban (courtesy of the artist and Edwynn Houk Gallery, NYC). (Photo taken from the book, Italian Views, Aperture, 2019).

In “Out My Window”, Gail Albert Halaban gives us a glorious license to stare and many reasons to, in her oversized, charismatic scenarios of personal drama and architectural splendor. She gratifies our nearly instinctual craving to imagine the lives of others with her birds-eye view into elegant urban dwellings around the world, most recently in Italy. High above the fray of the street, we spy on the solo reveries and group dynamics of seemingly unsuspecting neighbors. Spacious perspectives and design details that clue us into geographic location frame the insight that people are virtually indistinguishable from place to place. With a romantic “female gaze’ – sometimes wrapped in a dulcet dusk (feature image) – Albert Halaban’s glowing interiors radiate a sense of shared humanity and close community.

“Out My Window, Moving, San Marco, Venice, October, 2017” by Gail Albert Halaban Halaban (courtesy of the artist and Edwynn Houk Gallery, NYC). (Installation photo by Elin Spring).

Detail from “Giuseppe, 2018”, salon-style installation of forty 1960’s vernacular and eight original photographs by Allen Frame (courtesy of the artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC).

In his three-part exhibit “Suddenly,” Allen Frame’s photographs in Italy build narrative fantasies that draw upon foreign films, theater, southern American literature and his 2018 year-long residency in Rome. Frame starts with and improvises on found Roman photographs from the 1960’s, adding his own scenes with characters who all seem to be anticipating or searching for something. The salon-style grouping “Giuseppe,” a seeming travelogue featuring a strapping sunbather and his friends, the elegantly subdued and ornately framed B&W series “Suddenly” (referencing Tennessee Williams’ 1958 play Suddenly Last Summer) and Frame’s single color photographs of individuals in sun-drenched recreational scenes, all feature a subtle homoerotic charge. With an adroit dichotomy of restrained, often pensive characters in bright, open compositions, Frame’s narratives tease like film stills, building suspense and desire.

Installation view of “Thomas on the Beach, 2018” in custom-made Italian frame, from the series Suddenly, by Allen Frame (courtesy of the artist and Gitterman Gallery, NYC). (Photo by Elin Spring)

In a mesmerizing balancing act, both Gail Albert Halaban and Allen Frame conjure imagery that seems realistic but offers a novel slant on that reality. Their photographs become magical as these artists break boundaries, leading us into an expanded awareness through their intimate fantasies.

For more information about Gail Albert Halaban’s exhibit at Edwynn Houk Gallery, go to: https://www.houkgallery.com/exhibitions

For more information about Allen Frame’s reception and/or exhibit at Gitterman Gallery, go to: https://www.gittermangallery.com/exhibitions

Feature Image: Installation view of “Out My Window, Palazzo Donn’Anna, Naples, April 2018” by Gail Albert Halaban (courtesy of the artist and Edwynn Houk Gallery, NYC). (Photo by Elin Spring)