Space, Splash! and Half Wild at the Hillyer Art Space

*these shows close Saturday so hurry up and go visit!*After getting my butt kicked in a circuit class at VIDA fitness, I decided to take advantage of the sun and slightly warmer temperatures. I wanted to check out the Hillyer Art Space before the shows close. I was particularly interested in Fawna Xiao's Half Wild exhibit, but I was presently surprised by the other exhibits also up.I walked down U street and took a left at Florida, then a left down Hillyer Court. I passed the Senegal Embassy and some nice looking homes.

The sign says to enter through the garage, so I did. The first exhibit is Greg Braun who uses matte board and gypsum dry wall to create spaces within spaces. I loved the starkness and the shadow play. It was really fun to see his hand drawn sketches and preliminary scale models; the sketches being particularly illuminating because they were on those freebie type pads of paper you get at hotels and such.

The next room is filled with bright JD Deardourff screenprints that are amazing. I initially hated them, but the more I pondered how he created them and the colors he was able to make the more I fell in love. Inspired by the collages he made out of comic book splash pages, Deardourff recreated the essence of the comic book art through mimicking the pre-computer CMYK method with screenprinting. I really wanted to take a piece home with me.

The last gallery is of Fawna Xiao's work, the whole reason I went in the first place. I really enjoyed her minimal approach to color and the texture she got out of her prints. It was reminiscent of wood block prints, yet very delicate and complicated. Contemporary like 3D printing, but old school like foam sponges. Her and her dad built all the frames by hand and her prints are all single editions.