Exhibition Review: Gillian Laub | Family Matters

@Gillian Laub. Mom and Dad with the wedding planner, 2008. ©Gillian Laub, Courtesy of Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Wrttien by Max Wiener

Photo Edited by Billy Chen

Copy Edited by Kee'nan Haggen

Gillian Laub’s Family Matters exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum highlights singularity in our worlds. The series closes on April 9.

Everyone’s family has different characters from different sides. There’s an exciting cousin with a unique personality or a fun uncle who shows you movies you can not watch at home. Laub's photography has a beautiful sense of homeliness, with effervescent feelings of nostalgia and warmth oozing out of her work. Her subjects are not placed on a higher plane or pedestal but blend into her world and invite you in with their charming demeanor. “Dad carving the turkey” makes you feel bantering with your grandparents in the kitchen. A mood exists within Laub’s photography that keeps your eyes glued to the photos.

@Gillian Laub. Dad carving the turkey, 2004. ©Gillian Laub, Courtesy of Contemporary Jewish Museum.

The colors Laub can draw from her world are reminiscent of Gucci ad campaigns. One would think they’re looking at Ryan Gosling in a gorgeous new Italian suit. Instead, the elements of celebrity are removed and replaced with a friendliness that is as palpable as ever. One of her strengths is her ability to draw out the individuality of each subject in her photos, which is especially apparent in “Chappaqua's Backyard,” one of the older photos from the exhibition. The girl staring directly into the lens has profoundly piercing eyes that cut through the divide, sending judgemental pre-teen daggers directly into your heart. Everyone else in the photo - minding their own business - is highlighted with beautiful colors in their beautiful clothes. You, as the viewer, almost can’t decide who to look at first or who to stop looking at. It’d be tough to overlook Grandpa in the Speedo in the background.

@Gillian Laub. Chappaqua backyard, 2000. ©Gillian Laub, Courtesy of Contemporary Jewish Museum.

A picture like “Chappaqua Backyard” highlights the delicious humor in Laub’s work, almost as if her pieces are lined with familial jokes she’s letting you in on. That’s truly what makes her pieces so approachable and fun. You don’t need an art history degree to appreciate what she’s doing because you feel you’ve been in the same scenarios as her photos. Family Matters makes you want to call an old friend and chat or invite an estranged family member for dinner. Laub’s work has elements that we can all relate to. In today’s age, we’re all looking for something that binds us together in ways that subvert the political or economic landscape. Gillian Laub’s work reminds us of the family leisure moments we crave.

@Gilliab Laub. Slater with the Trump mask, 2019. ©Gillian Laub, Courtesy of Contemporary Jewish Museum.