Nature has been the font from which many artists have taken their inspirational sacrament. And it is a pleasure to see an artist who takes that inspiration and so masterfully manifests the power and majesty of our natural world into something entirely new, which is what you will find at Andy Moses’ solo show of recent works at the William Turner Gallery.
Andy Moses is not new on the scene. He has worked as part of the cadre of post-modern greats for most of his career, and has maintained his unique aesthetic sensibility and only ever refined it further. While previous works appear other-worldly, Moses’ collection on display now is far more grounded.
The first works of note are the collection of honeycombed smaller canvases that sit in the back left. They harmonize wonderfully with one another, and offer a natural starting point to the rest of the show. The paint churns and spins, rebounding off one another and appearing like brilliant geodes or St. Elmo’s Fire. These are the groundwork, so to speak, and from here the canvases get larger and take on lives of their own.
The large hexagonal and circular paintings really illustrate Moses’ desired swirling and spiraling effects, drawing the viewer into the whirlpool of brilliantly vibrant color. The gold in particular appears to leap off the canvas like a great whip of light. Here, the lines ebb into and around one another, colliding and crashing like lava flows and ocean waves.
But finally, the true gems of the show are the landscapes. The curved canvases create a panoramic effect, as if looking over a misty marsh or rainbows dancing lightly over rivers. The colors are hypnotic, and the lines which stack and flow one on top of another give the works both height and breadth.
Many words describe the paintings on display at William Turner Gallery: iridescent, geodetic, entrancing, to say just a few. But no words do Andy Moses’ works true justice, as just like in nature, to truly appreciate their beauty you must immerse yourself in them.
I haven’t been making the rounds of galleries lately but I really like Andy Moses’ work as it is much different from alot of work that I have seen in the distant past. Shows somebody is being creative. Plus I just love the colors. Will probably go into the gallery to see it in person if I can. My background is in graphic design and illustration from the 1980’s.