Hal Shipman: Forbidden Love at the Desert’s Edge – Opening and Artist’s Talk
@ Gerber/Hart Library & Archives
6500 N Clark St., Chicago, IL 60626
Opening Saturday, February 8th, from 5PM - 7PM
On view through Saturday, April 26th
Gerber/Hart presents a series of Hal Shipman’s photographic works inspired by the story of his great-uncle. Bill Gavin was a closeted gay man who lived his entire life in the West Texas town of Abilene, Texas in the early 1900s. Each piece is inspired by the tiny fragments of Gavin’s life that Shipman was able to glean from local newspapers and a few accidentally revealed family stories.
The exhibition is centered around “Smilin’ Through (2024),” a grand reenactment of the 1919 gothic drama, Smilin’ Through. Shipman tells the play in a series of still images playing with the visual vocabulary of film. In the retelling, he recasts the two straight romances in the original work as gay male love stories. Other pieces examine the landscape of the town and the social prospects for a gay man in that time.
The exhibit includes selections from the Gerber/Hart collections; featuring hidden stories, precious found artifacts and loves denied.
Tickets for the event, including beverages and snacks can be purchased on Eventbrite [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forbidden-love-at-the-deserts-edge-exhibit-opening-tickets-1152625978329?aff=oddtdtcreator] for $15.00.
Founded in 1981, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives is a non-profit organization that seeks to collect, preserve, and make accessible the history and culture of LGBTQ+ communities in Chicago and the Midwest in order to advance the larger goal of achieving justice and equality.
Shipman (born Denton, TX 1963) is a photographer and writer living in Chicago since 1995. He is a graduate of SAIC (MFA Photography 2024).
Gerber/Hart Library & Archives Hours:
W: 6:00p – 9:00p
Th: 6:00p – 9:00p
F: 1:00p – 5:00p
Sat: 10:00a – 4:00p
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