Courtesy of the artist and White Columns, New York. Photo: Marc Tatti

Written by Trip Avis

Vince Aletti’s The Drawer is aesthetically and compositionally amorphous, but the installation also eludes a definitive categorization. It draws from the same artistic well as his 2022 eponymous book, utilizing Aletti’s extensive, revered collection of printed memorabilia. Still, the translation between the book and the installation allows the imagery to reach new heights of visual nirvana. Labeling it a mood board or collage cushions The Drawer’s impact; it defies the terminology. Splayed vibrantly across five tabletops in an otherwise sterile white room is the collective vision of an artist and collector: his inspirations and imaginings, desires, and revered cultural totems. Aletti has effectively turned his mind inside out for others to observe and savor—most importantly, to connect with. In the artist’s words, the exhibition explores “the complexity and variety of desire, personal and collective histories, and the power of art to reflect and shape who we are.”

Seeking some secret, overarching pattern will leave you perplexed and ever-searching. The bigger picture, the sum of The Drawer’s many contents, is both the point and beside the point. The individual pictures speak for themselves: glossy glamour shots from fashion magazines, promotional images of iconic musicians, and beefcakes from vintage gay pornography. Each has its own story, divorced from the rest. When the images come together, they form something powerful and deeply personal: a fresh pop-cultural narrative—forged from spare, disparate parts—tenderly constructed from Aletti’s imagination. Due to their far-flung places of origin, the collective images require the viewer to explore and form their own opinion of how each piece informs, contrasts, and elevates one another. There is no cipher key; it is what we make of the visual feast Aletti has laid before us.

With the sheer magnitude of content utilized, it is impossible to do the whole exhibition justice with a mere summary. One must hold the microscope of their perception over increments to appreciate their colorful, intricate, and often cheeky nuances. French actor Louis Garrel dons a suit-and-tie in the corner of one tabletop. Overlaying the smartly dressed Garrel is a close-up of a bare, muscled torso, pubes exuding from the opened jeans like a peacock’s plumage. The pairing of images provides a wry, sensuous juxtaposition between the object of desire—the actor—and the artist’s imaginings—his body beneath the suit. Fittingly, a cartoon drawing of a man’s head is placed at the bottom corner of the torso image. Below it states: la tête. All fantasies are borne of the mind.

Another instance of unexpected cohesion is spoken through the language of eyes. Three photographs, layered diagonally in the center of one tabletop, feature a young Chloë Sevigny, the actress and long-time fashion icon, the famed boxer Joe Louis, who broke down racial barriers, and the late actor Angus Cloud of HBO’s Euphoria fame. The three cultural figures stare out from their portraits with a pensive, soulful expression. Cloud and Sevigny have dewy, doe-eyed aspects to their gaze, while Louis’s has a seasoned edge. There is something open and vulnerable in the collective images that meld them in a serene symbiosis despite their differences in era or circumstances. Ensconced centrally in the bright and busy tabletop, the frankness of their eyes beckons you to meet them.

Like the spilled contents of an evening bag, the installation has a revealing effect. Each chosen image speaks to the artist’s sensibilities, consciously or not. Despite their differences in subject matter, origin, or composition, the images form a greater visual poetry through their collective state. Vince Aletti has unlatched the aesthetic gates of his imagination. He welcomes us inside by opening The Drawer.

Displayed at White Columns in the West Village, New York, until May 4, 2024.