Talia Chetrit – Parents

Info

Off Vendome
254 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
September 10 – October 17, 2015

Words

Off Vendome is a strange place. The New York gallery is spread over two floors of a residential building, on the fringes of what might be considered Chelsea proper. It has a flag outside, a carpeted stairway, patchwork plasterwork, a small office and a large, bright main exhibition space. And for the next couple of days both are host to an exhibition entitled Parents by the artist Talia Chetrit. In the office are a selection of framed photographs, shot in her teens and more recently, while upstairs is a new video installation. The artist's first foray into film offers a humorous and frank portrait of her parents – frequent subjects of her photography – as they pose, clown around, and embrace without the knowledge that they're being captured on video. Chetrit set up a second camera while taking their portraits, and they assumed they were posing merely for a photograph. The short video captures these delicate moments of union, romance and companionship and the body of work is very much worth a look. You'll just have to hurry, as the show ends on Friday.

—Off Vendome