photo story
Carrie Moyer’s solo show Timber! is her debut with the renowned Alexander Gray Associates gallery in New York City. Her signature vibrant abstractions shine in the airy rooms of the Tribeca gallery space. Centering around “social and environmental instability,” this new body of work offers greater complexity and a more somber tone than Moyer’s previous work.
This stark contrast in tone and style from Moyer’s previous work reflects an overarching anxiety-driven mood, with layered compositional choices saturated with complexity. The large paintings that draw the eye complement Moyer’s smaller works on paper, where she employs watercolor techniques and more subtle transitions. In particular, an 18” x 24” piece titled To the Barricades, with mixed media with watercolor techniques, presents a turbulent arrangement of flag-like shapes, waves possibly alluding to the catastrophe of rising waters. She treats the paper surface with salt effects and marbling, offsetting bold splashes of red, which bleed and fracture into what’s left of the blue sky. The piece is one of the smallest in the show but packs a big punch.
Her large acrylic paintings are loud declarations of seductiveness, alarm, and rebellion. The playful, multi-layered surfaces transform as one moves through the gallery. Her signature style of adding glitter and various acrylic mediums to her paint—juxtaposing matte colors against gloss—complements her application of acrylic in such a way that it creates 3D elements in the painting. Carrie Moyer is an unapologetic and gutsy painter who has her own flair and isn’t afraid to show it. The surfaces of her paintings are captivating when viewed up close or across the ends of the gallery. Her strong design choices are then embellished by the finesse of various acrylic mediums.
The graphic nature of her compositions comes from her history as a graphic designer and mastermind of the Dyke Action Machine! Project. Using craft materials in the work, she counters the concept of feminine and frivolous artmaking and crafting with her unique approach to mixed media. Moyer toys with a viewer by making the work confident and sexy. Wet-looking and drippy planes meet deep and velvety matte, black shapes. Boasting, daring color combinations and painted configurations paired with textured elements have an almost alien-skin or body-like appearance. In pieces such as Etna’s Folly and Pyroplastica, there are suggestive forms and hues, bold, feminine, and confident. However, there is an uncanny unease about them and explosiveness both in the color juxtapositions and in the titles. Etna’s Folly, in particular, mimics a uterine shape yet alludes to the frequently erupting Mount Etna in Sicily, suggesting both beauty and outrage of mother nature.
Moyer’s work has an energetic rhythm that is irresistibly attractive. The shapes are more choreographed than just simply composed. Her choice of putting curved shapes into melting elements, such as in Tears on My Pillow, creates a multidimensional surface that is deep and flat all at once. The work appears mostly abstract with elements of representation. Humorous and serious, Fingering the Cosmos sends a message about environmental anxiety, apocalyptic thoughts, sexuality, and political disasters. Moyer’s titles add a comedic element and context to the work. She comes up with them somewhat spontaneously, usually after the work is created. Moyer credits her wife, Sheila Pepe, as an accomplice to these often-funny lines.
Moyer, one of the most versatile acrylic painters today, doesn’t fail to surprise even a seasoned eye with her new work. Her trailblazing approach allows for ever-evolving experimentation. As a seasoned artist, activist, and a very prominent queer voice, Moyer is certain to bring new and bold spins to her visual contributions.
Carrie Moyer: Timber! at Alexander Gray Associates runs through October 26th, 2024
About the writer: Anna Shukeylo is an artist, writer, educator, and curator working and living in the New York Metropolitan area. She has written for Artcritical, Painters on Painting, and ArtSpiel. Her paintings have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Kean University, NJ, Manchester University, IN, and in group shows at Auxier/Kline, Equity Gallery, Stay Home Gallery, among others. @annashukeylo