Gail Albert-Halaban “Vis à Vis”

Edwynn Houk Gallery

poster for Gail Albert-Halaban “Vis à Vis”
[Image: Gail Albert-Halaban "Quai Anatole, Paris, 7e, le 26 septembre"]

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Gail Albert-Halaban opens Vis à Vis, a continuation of her Out My Window series, at Edwynn Houk Gallery.

Artist Gail Albert-Halaban opens her exhibition of new photographs at the Edwynn Houk Gallery .The work, Vis à Vis, is a collection of images taken through and into the windows of Paris.

A New Yorker who has made work on the windows of her own city, Albert-Halaban is less a voyeur and more an active participant in the work – cinematizing and managing the scene. Residents are knowingly photographed, as if actors on set. They share their intimate, domestic moments.

With Vis à Vis, Albert-Halaban further explores the quintessential paradox of living in a great urban metropolis: the disconnection and estrangement that exists for all its residents despite living and working so physically near to each another. Initially, it seems she is illustrating the loneliness of an urban dweller, yet conversely she is bringing the residents together. By introducing neighbor to neighbor – above, below, next door and across the way – she gains access and permission from both parties to take the photograph from one window while the other is in the photograph

“Living in a city, our gaze is constantly drawn to the windows across the way or up above as we’re walking down the street,” said Albert-Halaban. “As urban observers, we create stories about the people, moments and interiors we see illuminated within. This unspoken yet ubiquitous human curiosity thrives in a metropolis. Through photos, our gaze can linger without restraint, and we can explore the reality – or fantasy – of lives lived beyond the glass.”

Vis à Vis is a continuation of Albert-Halaban’s Out My Window series, which she began in 2007. Her project continues to expand globally, with the artist seeking neighbors around the world who are willing to break down barriers and actively watch one another. She will photograph the participants without leaving New York –using technology that allows her to serve as artistic facilitator. The work has taken her into homes from Taiwan to Utrecht. She explains the work in a short film.

Born in Washington, D.C., (1970), Albert-Halaban received an MFA in photography from Yale University. She has taught at the Pasadena Art Center and International Center of Photography and at Yale, among other notable institutions. She has been included in both group and solo exhibitions internationally. Halaban has published two books: in 2014 Paris Views by Aperture, and in 2012 Out My Window by powerHouse Books. In March she showed her New York City windows in Paris at Galerie Esther Woederhoff.

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Schedule

from May 21, 2015 to July 10, 2015

Opening Reception on 2015-05-21 from 18:00 to 20:00

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