Reframe is a monthly column in which contributor Sam Falb discusses timely openings to view in New York. Each edition offers commentary on the latest exhibitions, performances, and installations. Dynamic and ever-evolving, the content reflects the fluidity of the market it travels through.
Flora, fauna, historical figures both AD and CE, and a surprising amount of metalwork round out this year’s final edition of the column. While New York readies itself to decamp to *insert warm locale, family home, or downtown dining destination* a slower, but steady schedule of shows has arrived, with most stretching into the new year. In that vein, make any one of these the last (or first) show on your upcoming calendar. Tender photography, a new mythology of family portraiture, sculptures in wood and sandstone, as well as light beaming out of resin-on-fabric fixtures are just some of the diverse selection. They provide a fitting outlook on annual reflection—from intimate studies of the familiar to ambitious reinterpretations of form and medium, the offerings invite viewers to pause, reflect, and take in the quiet beauty that lingers in the details.
In the (relatively recent) literary tradition of Reframe, queer-forward shows and artists have found their home here, with P·P·O·W’s Promiscuous Rage being the latest. In this dual show by Hunter Reynolds and Dean Sameshima, the two put forth a sometimes kaleidoscopic (Imperial Point Hospital or Mary’s Lamp) sometimes suggestive (Anonymous Rent Boy) array of imagery. Additionally, a few milestones mark the showcase, it being the first exhibition of Reynolds’s work since his passing in 2022, as well as the New York debut of Sameshima’s Anonymous Portrait series. Reynolds’s photo-weavings were inspired by the “wall of angels” patchwork quilt that his friend and kindred artist Jack Brusca produced. Originally an homage to the artist, Reynolds recontextualized that first quilt after Brusca fell ill with HIV in the early 90s, bringing it to him in the hospital. Sameshima’s series is front-and-center bold – SEX, Homosexual, Rent Boy, and more are depicted under the banner of “Anonymous”, allowing viewers to interpret the labels present in each piece. Pulling from a personal library of references as well as the first page of John Rechy’s 1977 novel The Sexual Outlaw, the works are deceptively simple upon a casual glance, but are deepened satisfyingly by their artist’s context and the partnership with Reynolds.