Examining the Human Condition, or How To React When He Makes You Crazy

I recently made my first visit to the Hillyer Art Space.  For those of you who are not familiar with this gallery, it is located in Dupont Circle behind the Phillips Collection and was dubbed the best gallery in Washington, D.C. in 2009 by The Washington Express.  The current exhibit at Hillyer features work by two extremely talented female artists, Kate Kretz and Elena Patino.  Both artists’ work deal with aspects of the human condition.  Kretz’s show Purge/Deluge examines her experience with the visible weight of daily survival and the ways in which she uses this as a creative outlet.  Elena Patino’s constructions of organic structures in Laborious Futility study the divergent aspects of identity where race and gender are scrutinized.

While using various media, there is a sensual, delicate quality evident in each of Kate Kretz’s displayed works.  Oubliette I, a piece that particularly struck me, was made with hair and linen and framed in the shape of an oval using a piece of convex glass.  I noticed that the arrangement of the hair appeared to take the shape of lips formed in a scream. I found Oubliette I  to be an interesting blend of the fine, delicate nature of hair and the raw, powerful emotion behind the physical act of screaming.  Having never studied French, I looked up the word oubliette when I got home from the gallery.  According to Wikipedia an oubliette is "a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling."  Knowing the literal meaning behind the title, it is possibly to interpret this piece in many ways (which is one aspect of the true beauty of art).  I, however, will always see a confined person staring at the viewer screaming to get out.  Abandon is another piece by Kretz that exudes a sense of delicacy.  Using graphite on glassine (a very soft, transparent material) Kate Kretz intricately draws several different positions of a hand from a fist (at the top left of the paper) to an open palm at the bottom.  She includes the definition of abandon at the top right corner of the paper.  The immaculate detail of each drawing is both spectacular and at odds with her proclaimed disenchantment with detail oriented styles of production.

As I walked around the room where Kate Kretz’s work is displayed, the title of one of her paintings caught my attention before my eyes rested upon the actual work.  How To Act, Not React, When He Makes You Crazy, p.52.  Various books I’ve read through the years flashed through my brain as my eyes focused on each word of the title.  This painting depicts a young woman laying in bed staring at the viewer while a cat sits at the end of the bed looking through a mirror hanging on the wall seeing part of the woman’s dress in reflection.  The woman’s face captures the tender emotion that I feel is apparent in Kretz’s work.  It is a melancholy piece, yet one of understanding and inspiration.  In times of duress it is often healthier to act in a nonphysical, nonverbal manner than the alternative; an anger fueled reaction that has the potential to produce an irreparable outcome.  

While Kate Kretz concentrates on the two dimensional realm, Elena Patino’s Laborious Futility is comprised of several three dimensional sculptures.  Patino’s work uses the construction of organic structures based on repetition and Hillyer displays a number of her wall installations that are patterned after the flexible characteristic of textiles.  Elena Patino uses everyday objects in her work. For example, a substantial amount of plastic straws are employed in The Last Straw, a wall installation that resembles the human heartbeat as shown on an electrocardiogram.  In Earth’s Best Gate, Patino uses a number of baby food jars containing different amounts of diluted pigment, all in various hues of red and pink.  These jars form a semi circle unifying two adjacent walls. When viewing Elena Patino’s work I began to reminisce of Andy Warhol’s work.  Like Warhol, Elena Patino’s transformation of everyday objects into art not only demonstrates the idea that utilitarian objects can be used to create a visually stunning masterpiece, but also acts as a commentary on the contemporary world through one person’s vision.

I recommend taking a trip to Dupont Circle and visiting the Hillyer Art Space to view the work of Kate Kretz and  Elena Patino. But, don’t wait to long!  Laborious Futility is only showing through March 27th while Purge/Deluge will be showing through April 30th.

ARTS & ARTISTS’ HILLYER ART SPACE, 9 Hillyer Court, NW Washington, DC  20008, Gallery Hours:  Monday 10AM-5PM, Tuesday-Friday 10AM-7PM, Saturday 11AM-4PM