Chicago’s Gerber + Hart Library presents Hal Shipman’s “Forbidden Love at the Desert’s Edge”

“Forbidden Love at the Desert’s Edge” presents Hal Shipman’s innovative photography-based work, inspired by found archives. The opening reception will feature an artist’s talk with Shipman and an opportunity to discuss family secrets, lost archives and the inspirations behind his works. The exhibit includes selections from the Gerber/Hart collections; featuring hidden stories, precious found artifacts and loves denied.

Hal Shipman’s photographic works are 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.

Tickets for the event are $15 and include beverages and snacks – Purchase Tickets HERE

 

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“Forbidden Love at the Desert’s Edge” will be on display at Gerber/Hart from February 8, 2025 to April 26, 2025 in the Sandfield Exhibition Gallery, Chicago