The Center Arts program supports LGBTQ artists as well as brings art into education on LGBTQ issues in the broader community.
Center Arts currently includes:
- Romaine Brooks Gallery
- Progressions Concert Series
About the Romaine Brooks Gallery
The Romaine Brooks Gallery at the Pride Center of the Capital Region is a gallery dedicated for a creative space and outlet for LGBT artists and themed work. The Gallery is coordinated by Alan Ilagan and is a participant of Albany’s 1st Friday-a free cultural event in Albany featuring numerous gallery openings, one-night shows, local shops, restaurants, and live entertainment. Check out the 1st Friday website for more details about the celebration: www.1stfridayalbany.org. The gallery is located on the third floor of the Pride Center and is open during Rainbow Café drop in hours, 6-9PM Saturday-Wednesday and 9-10PM Thursday and Friday.
About the Gallery Manager
Alan Ilagan is a young, gay professional who is passionate about the arts. He has volunteered his time with the Pride Center of the Capital Region’s Romaine Brooks Gallery for three years. Alan works at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and in his free time he enjoys reading, writing, and photography as well as theater and music. He also enjoys gardening and letter-writing, which he considers to be a lost art.
Alan became involved with 1st Friday Albany and the Romaine Brooks Gallery through a connection with Michael Weidrich. He had been taking photographs for about twenty years and incorporating them into projects, and after making the 1st Friday rounds for a few months he finally decided to take a chance and see if he could get a show at a gallery. He met Michael in 2008 and when he mentioned he was looking for a gallery manager, he started volunteering and shadowing him for the next few 1st Fridays. In September 2008 he had his first solo show, and also assumed the position of manager at the Romaine Brooks Gallery.
The first thing that Alan is most passionate about is the opportunity to showcase artists who may not have a viable outlet elsewhere. He’s heard from a number of our featured artists that the work they present at the Romaine Brooks Gallery would not be suitable or even allowed at other venues. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is a home and proud showplace for all artists, no matter the medium, the subject, or the controversial nature of the work.
2012 Featured Artists
January: John Basko
February: Kevin Bruce
March: Diana Spencer
April: Dave Abbott
May: Stephanie Levay
June: Group Pride Show
Current Artist: Dave Abbott
There will always be a special relationship between gay people and superheroes. Whether it’s the deeper tugs of emotional resonance related to feeling different from others or the simple appreciation of a finely-honed physique, many of us have found comfort and elation in the fantastical superhero world. Dave Abbott brings that world thrillingly to life in his show “SUPER: Heroes & Hotties” at the Romaine Brooks Gallery for the month of April.
“Muscle men and heroes are usually what you’ll find me drawing” Abbot has said. “I especially enjoy the characters of Marvel’s X-Men. I feel the battles facing X-Men strike a chord with me. They closely mirror the struggles we in the GLBT community have had to endure. The fear of those who see you “odd” or “different”. Those who feel we are less than human. The need to be who you are and to not be ashamed. I realize now as an adult why I loved these characters so much.”
Abbott’s abiding love for superheroes was born in the summers of upstate New York, when his family would travel to Lake George to visit their boat on weekends. “My brother & I used to walk to the general store to buy and read the latest adventures of the comic book superheroes of the 70’s,” he recalls of those idyllic days. “The Justice League, Superman, Batman, and the X-Men (my personal favorite) were all regular staples in my comic book piles. I loved to draw and imitate the superheroes I was reading about. I have never lost my comic geek side and still avidly collect comics & collectibles.”
It was not only a form of escapism and entertainment, it fostered an artistic interest as well. “Growing up as a closeted teen, I would express myself through drawings which I usually kept hidden. Over the years I would hide less and less of my work. To this day, I still have mild apprehension of having people see my work.”
It’s an odd but somewhat common stance of many an artist. The need to create is a driving force, and the need to share is there as well, but there’s something daunting and scary about putting it all on display for the world to see. Abbott pushes through his doubts with this show, challenging his own inhibitions and boldly going where he’s never gone before.
As proud of his artistic accomplishments as he deservedly is (Abbott won a 2002 New York Press Association Award for Best Special Section Cover for a Halloween illustrated cover of Parent Pages, and has been part of the Art for AIDS Sake Exhibit at the New York State Museum), he reserves his true admiration for the loved ones in his life.
“I’m most proud of the love and support of my family and of my marriage to my husband Jim (one of the historic first in Provincetown, MA in 2004). We met in 1995 and are in our 16th year together. He has opened up a whole new world for me and given me great support.”
That support lends him the power to soar into the epic, action-packed world of “SUPER: Heroes & Hotties.” It is a daring display, saturated with rich comic-book coloring and over-the-top fantasy. Abbott’s description of his work only partly does it justice: “My artwork heavily features suggestive idealistic male physiques and superheroes. Sometimes in a line art pinup style, other times colored digitally with real photographic elements.”
Even, and perhaps especially, in the comic world, male and female figures alike totter on the edge of erotic, in their skin-tight get-ups and perfectly-pronounced rippling muscles. They represent an ideal, an aspiration – the way some of us would like the world to be. Abbott has created a show that both honors and celebrates that, with an unabashedly gay slant that finds joy as its main goal.
“My work tends to fall into two categories: male nudes and superhero “fan art.” Marrying the two into one title seemed quite difficult. I hope that people will enjoy the show and bring their sense of adventure.”
Bring on the Heroes and the Hotties, and get ready to fly.
Dave Abbott will be presenting his solo exhibition, “SUPER: Heroes & Hotties”, at the Romaine Brooks Gallery on Friday, April 6, 2012 from 5 to 9 PM as part of Albany’s 1st Friday Events. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is located on the third floor of the Capital Region Pride Center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.
Past Progressions Events
June 2007 Adrianne w/Gregory Douglass
May 2007 Coyote Grace and Courtney Robbins
April 2007 Jules Piper w/Carlyn Hutchins
March 2007 Namoli Brennet & Liz Stahler
February 2007 Pamela Means w/Broadcast Live
December 2007 Christine Havrilla & Erin Harkes
November 2007 Jeremy James with Nathan Duprey
October 2007 Mara Levi, Liz Snavely, & Camille Bloom
September 2007 Andrea Paquin & Arjuna Greist
May 2006 Lindsay Mac w/Arielle Silver
April 2006 Mieka & Jules Piper
March 2006 Jeremy James & Mara Levi
January 2006 Kate Peterson & Sarah Cleaver w/special guest Namoli Brennet
November 2006 Adrianne and Nervous But Excited (Kate Peterson & Sarah Cleaver)
October 2006 Andrea Gibson & Katie Sawicki
September 2006 Chris Pureka w/Jeremy James
