REVIEW OF POLLY KING’S “ATTACKS ON MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.”
From HyperActive Haikus and News  (Volume 1, Number 2)

A spunky thing happened to me on the way to my exhibit last Saturday.  I ambled into the KNEW Gallery, a show room nestled just above the heart of Georgetown.
When I arrived the action was just starting at KNEW. In an industry known for its competitiveness, KNEW’s director took the unusual step of throwing a charity bash on behalf on the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The exhibit, “Attack on Multiple Sclerosis,” features art created by the late Polly King (1901-1993), whose art spans over 60 years.
King’s art is both electric and sweeping. It’s electric because of the grab-bag of colors she uses in her paintings. It’s sweeping because King’s talent in painting diverse subjects and in painting in multiple styles.
King painted thousands of canvasses, according to her son, Don King, who is not related to the fight promoter with the same name. During her life, King the artist traveled the world and it shows -- in her art. From Israel to Spain to Niagara, N.Y., King painted what she saw and made the most of it.
 KNEW’s director described King’s art as being inspired by an art movement called Fauvism. According to Wikipedia, Fauvists were modern artists whose works simplified lines, exaggerated perspectives, and used brilliant, but arbitrary colors. Fauvists like Paul Gauguin to Paul Sérusier also emphasized freshness and spontaneity over finish.
Nevertheless, I’d like to think of King’s work as part of the same family of artist work that gave us Monet, Manet, Matisse, and Van Gogh. One of King’s paintings actually reminded me of Van Gogh’s work.
What strikes me about King’s flavor of Impressionism is that the buildings look almost real, while the shadows of people in them appear almost unreal. The colorful automobiles in a city scene of a pre-Katrina New Orleans scene were more dreamlike than anything else.
King’s artistic talent was diverse. Her works included portraits of southern elite, abstracts, and multiple paintings of the same scene from different perspectives. 
The artist’s son tried to show me a figure of King David in canvass with the same name. I must confess I had trouble finding the figure in the abstract with the colors like Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. According to son King, kids pick out King David’s profile in a snap.
Though I never found King David myself, I still appreciated the work.
KNEW converted its space to make room for King’s 57 paintings. But there’s not much time left to see them. The exhibit closes on 5 February.  The KNEW Gallery is located at 1639 Wisconsin Avenue, between Q and Reservoir Road.
Knew Gallery: www.knewgallery.com
The Polly King Group: www.pollykingart.com