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Klari Reis gazes inward with her innovative art

by Renee Batti

One of art's chief goals is to penetrate surfaces, to dig deeply beneath what the eye can normally see and reveal internal workings.

So it's not surprising to hear artist Klari Reis say she wants to explore "life beneath the skin" — until you realize that she's not speaking metaphorically.

In fact, those intensely colored round, oval, square and unevenly shaped images that she paints on wood and aluminum panels in her San Francisco studio are actual images of magnified molecular masses, representing the mysteries of life beneath the human body's skin.

Ms. Reis, who grew up in Menlo Park and studied art for more than two years in London, will exhibit a number of her striking works in a two-woman show opening Saturday, May 6, at the Chelsea Art Gallery in Palo Alto.

The daughter of Ron and Barbara Reis of Menlo Park, Ms. Reis says her unusual work springs from a relentless interest in biological technology — pharmaceuticals in particular — and how its products affect the body.

Looking inward

The artist has had plenty of occasion to contemplate those effects. Born with an autoimmune condition that requires taking sometimes large doses of medications, Ms. Reis, 28, says she often asks herself, "What is this doing to my insides?"

There's so much that's unknown about those effects, she says, adding that through her work, "I'm trying to know the unknown ... trying to understand and make visible the unseen.

"I'm creating my own fantasy world with these images."

She names her paintings after pharmaceuticals, such as amoxil, rezulin and benazepril. Alive with forceful color, the work contains inescapable tension: Optimism about drugs' potential confronts their unpredictability and intrusiveness.

Although some are uneasy about the growing public reliance on biotechnological solutions to medical and food-production problems, Ms. Reis says she maintains a positive outlook.

"I'm hopeful," she says, adding that when required to take sometimes as many as 20 pills a day, "I'm trying to think positive things about it."

Innovative technique

While the paintings she creates are unusual, the technique she has developed to create them is possibly unique. Her "paint" is epoxy polymer, a synthetic plastic derived from crude oil that has the consistency of honey when wet. Using acrylic binders and pigments to color the epoxy, she applies it to panels to paint the magnified molecular images.

As it is applied, epoxy polymer is highly toxic, and Ms. Reis "suits up" with a mask, boots, gloves, eye protection and other safeguards. When it dries, it leaves a surface that is nontoxic and virtually impenetrable, she says.

"She has a really unique and innovative process — a completely different method for her work ... that I've never seen before," says Tenley Bick, Chelsea Art Gallery director.

Ms. Bick says that the innovative process used to create the work coupled with the way the art "challenges traditional perspectives" made Ms. Reis an appealing artist to feature in the gallery, which traditionally shows artwork by British artists.

Success in London

In fact, the exhibit opening this week, which also features the work of multimedia artist Kathryn Dunlevie, is Chelsea's first Bay Area show, she says. The gallery's owner, Suzanne Mohan, "became interested in Klari's work after seeing it in London," Ms. Bick says.

While living and studying art in London, Ms. Reis achieved such success with her art that she had pieces in five of that city's galleries. She also showed work in Florence and Torino, Italy; Madrid; and New York.

Now that she's back in the Bay Area, she limits her London galleries to three. And, it appears, she continues to be much in demand. Last week she flew to Chicago with works for the Nova Art Fair, and more work was heading for London.

INFORMATION

"Double Take," an exhibit featuring the works of Klari Reis and Kathryn Dunlevie, opens May 6 and runs through June 4 at Chelsea Art Gallery, 440 Kipling St., Palo Alto. Reservations for the opening are required. Call 324-4450.