The Washington Post

October 9, 2009
By Jessica Dawson

Colossal Transformations at Hillyer and G

“El Museo del Ghetto,” a joint project by Jefferson Pinder and José Ruiz. (By Paul Vinet — G Fine Art)

A curious two-person show landed at G Fine Art’s temporary space on E Street downtown. (Remember Cheryl Numark’s old gallery? This is it.) I say “landed” because one item is in fact a replica of a 1950s-era space capsule; another is a faux aid package labeled, in Spanish, “The Gods Must be Crazy.”

These two wry works join a mix of objects, painting and video by Jefferson Pinder and José Ruiz (the capsule is Pinder’s; the package Ruiz’s). The joint project, “El Museo del Ghetto,” mixes the tongue-in-cheek with the lofty.

Pinder and Ruiz make fine co-conspirators. Both favor casting themselves in their work exploring racial stereotypes. (Pinder is black; Ruiz’s roots are in Latin America.) “Museo del Ghetto” is their first collaborative project, though only one of the works on view was jointly authored.