Press Clippings

Real and abstract

Ben Moore's paintings, in the exhibition coming to the Prince Street Gallery, depict subjects including landscapes, still lifes and cityscapes with various degrees of realism and abstraction. But the purpose in each painting is the same: to delineate the formal relationship between shapes and colors on an abstract surface, while keeping a natural vision. The result is pictures that work on many levels. Above: "The Garden, " oil on canvas, 20 ins. x24 ins., 1993. 

Paintings by Ben Moore, at Prince Street Gallery, 121 Wooster St.; Dec. 17-Jan. 12, Tues.-Sun., 12-6P.M. 226-9402.

Ben Moore
BLUE MOUNTAIN GALLERY

Focusing on landscapes, figures and still life, Ben Moore distributes colors that retain the palpability of the brush and the faint homage implied. The subject, though at the forefront, is sublimated into an overall composition that has the resonance of Roualt and the brilliantly slack light of Fairfileld Porter. Immersed in a Formalist style, Moore says the subject is not so important as is how it's painted, the design element, the color, the depth. 

In one studio still life three planes-window, table and cloth-balance the organic shape of a bouquet. In the landscapes leafy, verdurous plants are similarly assigned to break up the regular lines of humid barns and introspective porch rails. "I like to use receding perspectives and flatten it at the same time. I pick an unusual setting and work the scene so there is a perfectly harmonious tension. I like to manipulate the forms that fit together in an interlocking, abstract formal way, but then the eyes perceive the depth and that tension between what lies on the surface and the distance I create is what interests me." 

There's a difference between pretty and beautiful and Ben Moore is investigating that edge with skill and conviction. 

Darrin Crane

Recent Public Shows

PAINTINGS 

December 17 - January 12, 1994 
Opening Reception: Friday, December 17 
5-8 PM 

PRINCE STREET GALLERY

121 Wooster Street 
New York, NY 10012 
(212) 226-9402 

The Garden, oil on canvas, 20x24, 1993

Other Displays