(From DCist contributor Seth Thomas Pietras)

DCist ventured down to Hemphill Fine Arts on 14th Street NW to see the opening of the William Christenberry exhibit and was satisfied not only by the artwork but by an increasingly lively neighborhood for a Thursday night at seven o’clock. Amid the new construction and old tattered buildings, a vibrant, active crowd was wandering about the restaurants, bars and stores. Never mind this inconsistent and torturous weather, the people of D.C. are apparently ready to get outside and explore.

A number of them were inside Hemphill, where a packed house enjoyed the 22 photographs and ink works of the older-school mixed-media photographer William Christenberry. Largely known for his worn and remote images of rural and backwoods Southern life, Christenberry’s most recent work, on display, is a clearer, more settled version of his earlier material. Most attendees thought it was "fun to see what he’s been up to lately." With an open bar, who can disagree?

Christenberry’s strength has always been in his treatment of found objects, which in this exhibit consists of trees, old signs, hubcaps, a grave, a clothesline, and a wreath. Of these, the standout pieces are two large photographs taken two years apart of a “Pear Tree, Near Akron, Alabama.” The photos are positioned on the opposite side of a wall, back-to-back, one of winter and one of summer. In both photos, the wily pear tree entangles and seemingly overcomes a clumsy wood fence (reaching out to the barbed wire and wooded edge beyond). This foreground sits in front of a Rothko landscape. These images, like with the others on display (even the wispy ink work, some of which appear to be bouquets of nipples on stems), demonstrate the convergence of the organic and the artificial. After decades of questioning this encounter, Christenberry may not have yet determined which side is prevailing.

The Christenberry exhibit runs through May 14, and be sure not to overlook the smaller-than-postcard-sized photos. That’s where it’s at.