KATE KRETZ

​DISTINGUISHED ARTIST SERIES
WITH KATE KRETZ
MAY 16-17, 2020
​WASHINGTON, DC

MAY 16 - 17, 2020 |
Local political and conceptual artist Kate Kretz is featured in the JRA Distinguished Artist Series. 

Artist Workshop:
Saturday, May 9 | 9:30am - 12:00pm
Location TBA
$50 members | $60 non-members
$175 for all 4 workshops, members only
​
Free Lecture:
Sunday, May 10 | 2pm - 3pm
American University Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC

Kate Kretz intends her mixed media work to be "beautiful, exquisitely-crafted gut punch." She takes an unblinking look at difficult topics, and renders her response with stitchery, painting, or woodburning. Whichever medium will have the most potency. With each stitch or mark, she increases the power of her "incantation" to counteract the negative and to create a thoughtful, healing object. Kretz has used human hair to embroider unsettling pieces which examine motherhood, sexuality, and aging. Her recent pieces using deconstructed Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats caused her work to be banned from Facebook and Instagram, an ironic outcome to her artistic fight against hate speech. Kretz's unsparing examination of important subjects is a deeply aesthetic and intellectual experience.

​She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and earned her MFA from the University of Georgia.  She has participated in numerous group and solo shows, and has received wide media attention for her unusual and powerful body of work.