Hillyer Art Gallery
9 Hillyer Court, NW
www.ArtsAndArtists.org
Through March 29, Hillyer Art Space is hosting three exhibitions. Narciso Maisterra’s exhibit, “Passing Through the Body Without Staying,” is a testament to an emotional process of recuperation from illness via artistic creativity. In January 2011, Maisterra had an accident that affected his physical appearance. As soon as he regained the use of his right arm, he resumed painting, and the work in this show became the key to his recovery. Maisterra decided to start a series of self-portraits inspired by the ugliness and sadness he saw to create an unsympathetic image of himself. The series shows an artist using art as therapy to familiarize himself with his new face. Jungmin Park, in her exhibit “The City Stories,” portrays the relationships between cities, nature and people. She personifies both urban and natural objects and encapsulates their existence within a single memory, which she visualizes with natural and man-made objects. Garth Fry explores the psychology of isolation by creating shapes and forms that are void of applied color. He investigates this concept through his use of raw, coiled paper and glue. Visual tension is created through his use of light and shadows, further emphasizing refuge and loss of identity.
Jane Haslem Gallery
2025 Hillyer Place, NW
www.JaneHaslemGallery.com
“Endless Flowers” is a group exhibition at Jane Haslem Gallery, running through the end of April, the title of which is as pure, beautiful and evocative as the artwork it represents. From watercolors and drawings, to aquatints and engravings, the show takes the audience through a veritable botanical journey, filled with the floral beauty, natural wonder, and intimate perspectives on our daily environments in their relation to the its surrounding plant life. Two qualities that unify the works are light and delicacy, whether represented through the soft translucence of a petal, the clean and playful symmetry of potted wallflowers, or a nettled pillow of wildly blooming Queen Anne’s lace. The craftsmanship of the artists also shine—the texture of Billow Morrow Jackson’s oil painting Flowers on a Table or George Harkins’ watercolor, Berries and Bluejays, are haunting and substantial, and a wonderful compliment to the downy fragility of the sun-washed red tulips in Nancy McIntyre’s silkscreen Everett’s Front Window.
Cross MacKenzie Gallery
2026 R St., NW DC 20009
Cross Mackenzie Gallery is pleased to present “Through the Trees,” an exhibition of new paintings by Virginia Commonwealth University art professor Kurt Godwin, one of the D.C. area’s most accomplished artists. Art in America critic J.W. Mahoney, describes Kurt Godwin’s previous body of work “Philosophy of Nature” as follows: “These paintings intentionally marry three visual worlds: the plain representation of natural place and organic growth, the abstracting of conditions in physical reality according to scientific iconography, and various symbol systems that serve as analogies to the qualities and nature of a
transcendent reality.”
In this new show, “Through The Trees,” Godwin achieves that “transcendent reality” by returning to the representation and abstraction of natural place – he is painting the shimmering, hypnotic, mesmerizing light. He has shed his complex layering of symbols and scientific imagery to concentrate on the pure powerful force of the radiant sun. Godwin is a magician with paint and he wields his brush skillfully, delivering lush surfaces, animated brushstrokes and dabs of singing color. The viewer gets glimpses of a burning sunset, a reflection of a cloudless cerulean sky and a fractured, mid-day white haze.
Leafless dark tree trunks in shadow act as filters for the light that bends around their silhouettes. One gets the sense that the light would be blinding without the vertical shields that protect one’s eye’s from the harsh rays behind – while at the same time that light beckons like a stained glass window. For some, these woods are dark and threatening, the branches cage-like. For the artist and this viewer these paintings are beautiful, peaceful reminders of walks through the trees, away from the noise and danger of the world inspiring a feeling of awe in nature and sunlight – a transcendent reality.
Studio Gallery
2108 R St., NW
www.StudioGalleryDC.com
From March 27 through April 20, Studio Gallery will be featuring the work of three artists. Veronica Szalus’ work, “Down to the Wire,” is an evolving concept exhibit that explores fluidity through irregular and contrasting forms through both dimension and movement. The installation uses manipulated materials that are fragile, delicately balanced, and often porous, exploring continual nuanced shifts of form, much like our natural environments. Sculptor Brian Kirk is also inspired by natural forms, but equally by man-made objects. His metal sculptures utilize geometric shapes and forms, while his stone and glass casting are more organic. Harriet Lesser’s paintings are inspired by the manipulation of natural elements in a different way—her work explores the relationship between making art and cooking.
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- Cross MacKenzie Gallery
