Walter Hatke

(b. 1938, Topeka, Kansas; lives Hudson-Mohawk Valley Region, New York)

Walter Hatke’s paintings are not clearly set in the past or the present. The Americana sites that appear in his work - a general’s mansion, Thoreau’s cabin, a Shaker village-are often historic, yet they show no signs of age. By painting scenes in perfect preservation, the artist elicits a sense of hope for the way things can be, but also a sense of uncertainty as to how to achieve it (after all, the scenes do not remain in that condition today). Hatke exhibits great precision in detailing a building’s exterior, yet he rarely reveals its interior, creating an impression of both privacy and hollowness.