Collection: "Helen: Queen of the Flies" Julie Barrett solo exhibition

KALEID Gallery is proud to present:

 Helen: Queen of the Flies Julie Barrett solo exhibition

Carl is in love with his beautiful,young patient Helen. Although she succumbs to her illness and dies, he still tries to keep her alive.through the layers of “reality” he has layered in his own reality. She exists between the planes of the here and the gone; he can’t tell the difference except for the crackles and blasts of his brain breaking…breaking through to her. Sometimes their connection is clear. She is alive with him, she is his – laughing and seemingly interacting with him. Then the crackling happens and he loses her; she can’t hear him anymore. She’s decaying, he’s trying desperately to stop that. He can’t control decay any more than he can control his disgusting love for a dead girl. He finally realizes that the only way he can truly be with her is to become one of the flies, feeding off her slowly decaying body. 

Carl Tanzler, or known as the Count Carl von Cosel (February 8, 1877 – July 3, 1952), was a German-born radiology technologist at the Marine-Hospital Service in Key West, Florida. He developed an obsession for a young Cuban-American tuberculosis patient Elena “Helen” Milagro de Hoyos (July 31, 1909 – October 25, 1931) that carried on well after her death. In 1933, almost two years after her death, Tanzler removed Hoyos’ body from its tomb, and lived with the corpse at his home for seven years until its discovery by Hoyos’ relatives and authorities in 1940. (source: Wikipedia) 

About the Artist: 
Francis Bacon influences my work greatly. His “answer to no one” style and attitude are highly relatable to me. My current work is mostly greyscale, charcoal,conte,graphite,etc.on paper. My current multi-media project “Helen: Queen of Flies” is a short film I’ve created using my iPhone and some simple editing programs. I call my style Dark Expression. 

Exhibition dates: March 1– 29, 2024

Gallery hours:
Thursdays–*Fridays 12pm–7pm
Saturdays 12pm–5pm
*First Fridays 5pm–9pm.
Free admission.

KALEID Gallery
320 S. 1st St.
SoFA District downtown San Jose
info@kaleidgallery.com
408-947-1785