Alice O'Malley
Born: Buffalo, New York
Over the last decade, O'Malley has collaborated with scores of downtown New York artists to create a photographic archive of, by and for those who inhabit the peripheries. Set against backdrops of what seem to be the last empty rooms in a neighbourhood reeling from takeover, these portraits derive from the informal rituals of languid afternoon visits and unhurried conversation. While the choice of the silver gelatin print casts her unconventional subjects in enduring relief, O'Malley's unschooled process bears the marks of imperfection that lend to its intimacy.
O'Malley's formal studio portraits of artists, performers, and friends depict untraditional people, whose defiant presence counterbalances the increasing obsolescence of such individuals currently being witnessed in New York City today. The Lower East Side has long been a place in which art and the avant-garde function as integral parts of urban life. O'Malley's portraits provide an intimate look at the people who give it this character. (Lia Gangitano, Participant Inc, NYC 2008)
Courtesy of Isis Gallery website