Kim Abraham at the Alex Gallery

The Ballinglen Arts Foundation, an Irish non-profit organization established in 1992, invites working artists to partake in a 6 week long experience, in which they are to live and create in Ireland while partaking in local culture. Kim Abraham took advantage of this cathartic experience in the fall of 2010, spending six weeks in the Irish rural town of County Mayo. His works, both large and small, are a manifestation of this experience. His time in Ireland is shared with us intimately—we are shown early mornings, as well as late afternoons, and well into the darkness of evening.

"Any place is alive." Abraham writes, and what he describes as the 'heartbeat of a landscape' can be felt pulsating calmly and rhythmically from his works. Variations of levels in his horizon lines lend his works to vastness while remaining connected to natural shapes and forms. We are reminded that landscapes are not static, and the life they breathe is as fluid as any of our own.

Abraham's self-professed interest in water is also a driving force behind his vivid paintings. It possesses the ability to change identities while shaping landscapes. Thus, these different forms of water can be found throughout his body of work. Hazy fog gives way to mountains, and oceans of deep turquoise meet calming skies. Veering on abstraction, colors meld together and give each composition its own elegance, which is inviting and familiar.

We invite you to come and experience these works at the Alex Gallery, now until the end of January.

-Balkis Awan

Kim Abraham: www.kimabraham.com/

Ballinglen Arts Foundation: www.ballinglenartsfoundation.org/

Alex Gallery

2106 R Street, NW

(202) 667-2599