It’s night, and a young couple pause on a sidewalk. The man turns to say something to his petite companion, who gazes forward with a faraway look. Nestled against his back with her hand tenderly resting on his shoulder, the woman is connected to her surroundings but apart from them, her mind on something else. One of the first paintings in Aaron Gilbert’s powerful show at Gladstone Gallery, the scene introduces the artist’s typically introspective characters and the dominance of corporate logos in what might otherwise be an everyday scene. Instead of being ordinary, however, the glow of a giant AT&T graphic acts as both replacement for a sun and as a halo behind the figures suggesting their otherworldliness. Palm trees on the box in the man’s hands also point to a place distant from the shop-front behind the couple, a portal that they may have access to, if only mentally. (On view in Chelsea on 24th Street through April 19th).
