Celebration at The Kreeger Museum

The architecture of the modern mansion designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster is one of the attractions of The Kreeger Museum nestled in a wealthy residential enclave of Washington DC. Its permanent collection and the temporary exhibitions keep bringing me back for a visit, the latest to view Here, in this little Bay: Celebrating 30 years at The Kreeger. Even though the fourteen artists selected for the show are from the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia), it is a cosmopolitan gathering as ten of them were born abroad, from the Far East to South America. A reflection "on our interactions with the natural environment", the theme of the exhibition is approached through photographs, paintings, drawings and sculptures. 

With a fresh pair of eyes I went downstairs to start the visit, my first encounter with the artists and their works. Initially thought to be industrial furniture, Marshland Elegy, 2024, from Marty Koelsch, a decorative flat piece of sycamore lying on a black metal base, upon closer look revealed the map of a meandering river drawn by gaps in the carefully polished salvaged wood. The exhibition's brochure found upstairs in the library provided cues about the mortuary title of the work, a speculative model of Jones Falls, a pristine stream in Maryland now forever altered by the industrial developments brought by European settlers. Dreams of an untouched Arcadia generate regrets tinged with an aura of romanticism. 

A somber mood pervades the first gallery bathing in greyish, black, muted colors, to deal with themes about catastrophes like Burning Away #1 and #2 (2023), two chemigrams from the Japanese-American photographer Kei Ito. The crude silhouettes of charred human remains are the result of a complex process involving oils, honey, syrup, and refer to the devastating nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forever part of the artist's history. The two small sculptures on pedestals Volcano (2003), and Peak (2003) from Athena Tacha, born in Greece, are diminutive works from the multimedia artist better known for her sizable environmental public sculptures. Her two shiny black mandala-like works on the wall (silver acrylic ink on black watercolor paper), are spoiled by the reflection of the spotlights. Part of her Singularity series, they are an attempt to unveil mysteries from the universe while Golden Pools, 2015-2016, photographs of volcanic pools in the Danakil Depression bring us to remote Ethiopia. Venice is sinking. Soledad Salamé's black and white photographs, upshots of original aerial views from Google Earth, reveal an hypothetical sight of the magical city, victim of climate change, engulfed in water. Famous for his sculpture Kryptos, located at the CIA headquarters, Jim Sanborn is also an ecologically friendly land artist. Through elaborate techniques, he creates stunning photographs of natural sites on which he imprints geometric designs or magnified fingerprints, underlining the beauty and purity of  natural sites and the brevity of our interaction on them. Three of his photographs from the Analog Projections series are featured with sites from Utah, Oregon and Ireland.  

A short passage filled with a display of African masks leads to a windowless gallery lined up with works on the walls and two sculptures on pedestals. For once, my first impression is deceptive. A  flimsy looking assemblage haphazardly constructed with painted paper towels on wooden frames supported by sandbags, Stervende Overwinning (Dying Victory) (1872-2024) from Monsieur Zohore reveals the depth of its content when looking closer. Made of snippets of more than twelve paintings from Piet Mondrian, divided by a long thick white braid, the work sums up the painter's career from his figurative to his abstract period which made him famous. One can recognize a wilted sunflower alluding to Dying Sunflower, (1907-1908) which belongs to The Kreeger's permanent collection and a fragment of Broadway Boogie-Woogie (1943), his last painting. Zohore implies that 1872, the birthyear of Mondrian, is also the year of conception of "Dying Victory". Monsieur Zohore, pseudonym of the Ivorian-American artist born in Potomac, Maryland, could be a clown's name. The artist uses humor, self-deprecation, absurdism, satires, to tackle serious subjects, here art history and life-cycle. Upstairs in the library, Primitivism (Plinth), 2012-2024, an installation made of plastic birds of paradise, native flowers of South Africa, standing in bottles of Windex brings up reflections about beauty, economic disparities, values, pollution, cultural products, and more, through a visual metaphor. Across, two paintings from David Carlson mingle Western and Eastern art in abstract compositions as Dolores Zinny's miniature color drawings offer small views of the limitless sky from Rosario, Argentina, to Baltimore, Maryland, evoking the migration patterns South to North. With trimmed landscapes in the background, the six portraits from the photographer Chan Chao of soldiers, mother and child, father and child, stay remote, storiless, lost in the past (photographs from 1997 to 2008). Shahla Arbabi's paintings are moody and premonitory while her two sculptures objectify the forces of destruction followed by decay brought by catastrophes. The models of crumbling buildings make us ponder about our fragile present and the concept of impermanence. The next stop is upstairs in the library where we find Monsieur Zohore's installation and the books from the collectors. The sounds from Kristin Putchinski's video enliven the quiet atmosphere as the images of Reaping and Sowing, 2023, her 12 minutes performance, run by. The wrecking and transformation of an upright piano is a violent scene unfolding on a screen divided in two parts. One can extrapolate to personal and universal cycles of destruction and reconstruction. Jae Ko, Linn Meyers and Juan Maidagan are each represented by one work in the third gallery closeby. Jae Ko born in South Korea adopts the traditions of paper folding from Far Eastern countries in her composition JK 2158 Red on Ash Black, 2023. For Linn Meyers the creation of Mirror World, 2022, is a performance in itself as she draws (it seems) an infinity of small black dots on a fine grid. The result is a delicate diptych, a thin black veil leaving an ethereal light filter through translucent folds.  Maidagan is represented by a small wall sculpture in bronze, inaccessible and lonely on the white wall. The modern mansion appears to be built around an interior courtyard filled with palms and small sculptures. In Silence, 2001-2002, the work from Salamé, made of insects caught in resin color of amber, is in harmony with the background of plants which survived since prehistory. On the other side, the site specific curtain-like orange and yellow installation from Dolores Zinny Aliseos (Westerlies, Easterlies), 2024, makes us dream of paradisiac islands, palm trees and idyllic sunsets.

It is a new world since the poem from Coventry Patmore was published. The title of the exhibition 'Here, in this little Bay' is the first verse of 'Magna Est Veritas', a poem published in 1877. I have to confess, I discovered the author and the artists selected for the show on the Internet. I also relied heavily on the brochure which provided detailed information about the sometimes labor intensive processes involved in the creation of the works and when needed, the keys to their concepts in overblown analysis. The goal of the exhibition is reached: a reflection "on our interactions with the natural environment". All the selected works make us face the reality of our harmful impact on the natural environment. Nature which used to provide a peaceful retreat to seek beauty and pursue spiritual endeavors, now generates guilt, anxiety, and a feeling of doom: the rain is acid, the sun is too hot, trees are burning and seas are rising. 

A somber anniversary at The Kreeger Museum.

photographs by the author:

David Carlson "Tree", 2023

Shahla Arbabi "Frozen in Time", 2022

Monsieur Zohore "Primitivism (Plinth)", 2012-2024

Soledad Salamé "In Silence", 2001-2002

Group Show at The Kreeger Museum

Paintings from the Washington Color School's artists are found in museums worldwide and their names belong to the history of modern art. Closely associated with color field painting, the movement placed D.C. on the art scene's map, even as most of the abstract expressionist artists contributing to a roaring post-war creativity lived in or around New York City. What is happening today in the DMV area (D.C., Maryland, Virginia)? A visit at The Kreeger Museum is the occasion to get a glimpse of Washington's lively art scene. The private residence of collectors David and Carmen Kreeger built by renown architects Philip Johnson and Richard Foster now hosts their collection of paintings and sculptures mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, displayed on two levels of the building and in the garden. In conjunction with the Hamiltonian Artists, the museum also promotes local artists through its program The Collaborative. The Hamiltonian Artists is a "career incubator program for emerging visual artists" which provides exposure for its fellows as well as more mundane support. The latest exhibition Doing The Work features creations from five Hamiltonian Fellows scattered within the permanent collection. 

Randomly, I started the visit in the library on the first floor where three photographs of Samera Paz are hung on the wood panels. At first, they seem disconnected: pages of an adolescent's diary, still lifes of beauty products or neatly folded cloths. The vivid compositions are made of objects gathered in the foreground leaving little space for the neutral background. They represent a personal history, and "I" included in each title is the link. Can they involve "Us"? Rebellious adolescence, loneliness, consumerism, pressure to fit in,... the gamut of  anxieties expressed through the accumulation of words or objects reaches a wide audience finding common ground. Activist and artist Samera Paz is known for her use of a different medium, menstrual blood. For the show, she simply exposes her vulnerability. 

A narrow passageway lined up with drawings and small paintings from masters like Paul Klee, Picasso, Kandinsky, leads to the next room. Surrounded by the lively colors and lines of the abstract works from Charles Hinman, David Urban and Thomas Downing, Kyrae Dawaun's piece is a surprise, on the floor. Combining copper nestled in a concrete square mound and a geometric structure made of pale bluish limestone framed by white oak, it appears indestructible. The title tells another story: a confluence toward an ill Delta (2023) evokes the fragile ecosystem threatened by climate change and human intervention. Under the playful rays of the sun, like an island on the parquet, the work found its place.  

An intimate parlor is the next stop to watch the three videos from Cecilia Kim. The South Korean artist now living in D.C. stays hidden behind a black screen to perform a slow ritual, her hands carefully handling small pieces of food found in traditional Korean dishes. Lasting twelve minutes to over one hour, the footages reveal the value of  "performed labor", title of the work (Performed Labor, 2021). With its implied respect for nutrients and cultural heritage, the slow repetitive activity leads to a state of quiet meditation, transforming manual labor into a spiritual endeavor. On the walls, still lifes from Van Gogh, Cézanne, Picasso, including the famous Café de La Rotonde (1901) complete an inspiring display.

 The bottom of the staircase is a perfect site for Ara Koh's installation gathering thirteen sculptures made of fired clay. Two to six feet high, they create a landscape evoking the Southwest of the United States. Like sculpted by the elements, their rough surface even shows some cracks, underlining the fragility of the natural world. Core Sample (2020) describes an arid ecosystem, a haunting desert. Through an intense labor, the South Korean artist leaves her marks on the clay to represent "geological time and metamorphosis".

 Matthew Russo's works are found between two major paintings, Flin-Flon XIII (1970) from Frank Stella and Cape (1969) from Sam Gilliam. Practiced Play, Iterations #1-3 (2023), a gathering of white and fluorescent colored sculptures looks like made of playdough. Set on the floor in the center of the room, the line up of small whimsical objects brings a playful distraction to the magisterial display. On the wall, Workplace Drawings #1-15 (2021), a series of fifteen blue and red drawings of surrealistic objects floating on a white background, reveals an infinite world of dreams. 

For most of us "work" evokes enforced prosaic labor, sometimes physically or mentally exhausting , mostly dull. It feels paradoxical to use the word in the title of an art show. Here, photographs, sculptures, drawings and videos are born from a labor transcended by the artists. Their creations spread among the masterpieces enhance the visit and rejuvenate the permanent collection, transforming The Kreeger Museum into a dynamic and nurturing venue.  

photographs by the author:

Ara Koh "Core Sample", 2020

Cecilia Kim "Performed Labor", 2021 (videos)

Matthew Russo "Practiced Play, Iterations #1-3", 2023

Frank Stella "Flin-Flon XIII", 1970