Please Join us at the Press Reception on Thursday, July
1, 6pm -8pm to meet and greet Iris from Port-au-Prince,
Haiti.
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 3, 6:30-9:00 pm
| Genevieve
Iris Esper is a Haitian Modernist
who studied at L'Ecole Beaux Art in Paris and has an
art degree in architecture. Iris did not begin painting
until she was 33 and at 39 she is still called upon
to execute the occasional structural design, but purely
creative art is now her domain. The artist's distinctive
style shows architectural influences of Byzantine and
medieval style, intricate geometric patterns and folk
art symbols, these paintings all the while are executed
in bold Haitian colors. Author, Marie Alice Theard explains
in her book Haiti, la voie de nos silences, that Iris
sets up correspondences with the compositions, decomposition,
and re-compositions, naive or sophisticated, drawn from
the abysses of vaudou. Her retina captures and transmits
the signs, sacred symbols and forms of Taino heritage.
She performs a descriptive execution of the western
academic referrals. She also remembers Saint-Soleil.
The heretic characters of her paintings, void of narrative
content, give off the aspect of an Egyptian bas-relief.
She has exhibited widely throughout Haiti, France, and
Florida. Most recently, she has shown at the Espace
Klee Gallery, Paris France, The United Nations, New
York, and The Black Arts Festival in New York. This
is her first exhibition in Washington, DC. |
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This exhibit will run June 30 - August 7, 2004
Hours: Wednesday - Thursday 11-6 P.M., Friday
- Saturday 12-7 P.M.
For further information please contact Tim
Davis, Director/Owner.
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