Media Contact:
Timothy Brown
Hillyer Director
hillyerdirector@artsandartists.org
PRESS RELEASE
“Newly Selected Artists: Walter Rindone, Elaine M. Erne, and Andrew Hladky,” June 3–July 2, 2023. The opening reception is Friday, June 2, 2023 (“First Friday”), 6 to 8 p.m.
Left to Right: Walter Rindone | Elaine M. Erne | Andrew Hladky
Walter Rindone
Tales from the Deep Dark Web
The paradoxical implications of human activities and their impact on the planet. Actions to organize cultural and religious systems and society. Consumerism as the new ritual dimension of man. These are just some of the topics that form the background of the project entitled Tales from the Deep Dark Web, the last chapter of an ongoing series of artworks that began to take place in 2016.
The project consists of the alteration of biblical illustrations by the French artist Paul Gustave Doré, which are implemented with found imagery coming from any sort of informational medium, ranging from printed sources—such as books and magazines—to the internet. The artworks are produced by using an experimental printmaking technique called anastatic printing.
Elaine M. Erne
They See All
The Lives and Traumas of Stuffed Animals is a continuing series of prints and large graphite drawings of Lanie Doll and her friends that represent individuals and their emotional relationships with themselves and others. In recurring stressful situations, people often become like dolls, putting forward a cheerful persona, no matter what is happening. The dolls encapsulate the personality of an individual and allow the artist to explore the inner workings of painful relationships without being immersed in the reality of difficult interactions. Although there is a playful side, the underlying theme is fear, cruelty, isolation, and survival. Though the situations represented are far from real, no stuffed animals were harmed in the making of the work; they capture the aura that surrounds people who on the outside appear happy, while actually experiencing deep sorrow, loneliness, and tension in their daily lives.
The layers of graphite pencil in the large drawings and dense ink in the prints create deep blacks in the space that surrounds the stuffed animals, confirming the feeling of isolation one feels when totally overwhelmed and powerless. The drawings are larger than life (the largest being 94″ x 144″) so that they surround the viewer and encapsulate them into a disturbing—but at the same time strangely whimsical—moment, causing a mixed reaction to the work.
Andrew Hladky
Memories fade, soil deepens
Memories fade, soil deepens presents paintings made of oil paint and bamboo sticks that are built into high sculptural relief, growing out towards the viewer like living organisms. They play between flat image and sculptural form, exploring the point at which images break down and the materials and processes that make them become impossible to ignore.
At times of joyful abandon, or during bouts of illness or depression, we can lose track of our conscious selves—the images we carry of who we are dissolving into the mysterious physical workings of the unconscious body. The paintings in Memories fade, soil deepens aim to echo this sense of dislocation. Surface imagery shows the nostalgic, fragmentary landscapes of memory. Underneath, the sculptural build-up churns, worms of paint overflowing the illusion and causing it to give way to the tumult and exuberance of its material form.
Exhibition Content
Visit Hillyer’s upcoming exhibitions to learn about the featured artists.
Image Credits (Left to Right):
Walter Rindone, The Death of Abel, 2020, anastatic printing, 140 x 100 cm; Elaine M. Erne, Lil’ Bunny Leaves A Note, 2021, graphite pencil on paper, 72″ x 54″ in; Andrew Hladky, A fable of the changeless and the fleeting, 2022, oil and bamboo sticks on panel, 8 x 10.5 x 4.5 in.
International Arts and Artists at Hillyer
Founded in 2006, IA&A at Hillyer (formerly Hillyer Art Space) is the Washington-area initiative of International Arts & Artists. Through its innovative and often provocative exhibitions and public programs, IA&A at Hillyer champions local and international artists at all stages of their careers.
IA&A at Hillyer collaborates with artists, cultural organizations, and embassies to develop and host creative, thought-provoking programs that push our understanding and reflect the uniqueness of DC as an international capital. Whether you live in Washington or are visiting, IA&A at Hillyer invites you to encounter contemporary art from the US and around the world in a welcoming, and intimate gallery setting.
Hillyer is open Tue-Sun from 12p – 6p (5p on weekends).