David Gilbert: Fairy Tale

Rebecca Camacho Presents is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Los Angeles based artist, David Gilbert. Creating fanciful spaces in the studio, Gilbert’s photographs capture magical storybook moments in (and out of) time. In his second solo presentation at the gallery, titled Fairy Tale, the mechanisms of Gilbert’s visual storytelling have both evolved and simplified.

Fairy Tale’s vignettes are comprised primarily of cut paper, paint, and natural light. The moments captured feature recognizable imagery – birds, window frames, foliage, a castle – yet they are enchantingly mysterious. In each, light acts as a key player, simultaneously illuminating and defining the space, while also casting deep, unreadable shadows within the frame.

These immersive views are a moment out of reach, vacant spaces that linger with the scent of prior occupants. Gilbert’s compositions invite the audience to imagine the inhabitants of his spaces and to approach the work as one of those inhabitants. In Fairy Tale, the voyeuristic vantage point remains, but the locations swirl more ethereal.

Within these whimsical constructions, Gilbert conceives tableaux ripe with possibilities. Are we seeing from the inside-out or the outside-in? Are we floating freely or trapped inside? Are we large or small? A dove caught mid-flight, a tree branch twisting up a light spattered wall, a bright set of windows giving entry to a hushed paper room littered with pompoms, a garden of flowers and vines, a shadowy castle lilting and tilting - held up by string. Gilbert’s billowy, windswept constructions dissolve and disappear in the light, yet the images remain solidly there. The work is extant and vibrant while simultaneously fragile and exposed.