Andy Moses
Recent Works
William Turner Gallery
December 5, 2020 – February 27, 2021

Geodesy 1505
Moses’ paintings are complex imbroglios that defy understanding. While his process is additive, it is impossible to reverse engineer the construction of the images. Fascinated by the micro and the macro, the geologic and the galactic, Moses references nature and its dynamic forces, creating abstract works that explore basic color relationships while simultaneously suggesting lava or river flows as well as star trails in the night sky. Moses often starts small, creating studies for his larger works where he determines color relationships and the possible flow of the paint. A wall of seven 20-inch acrylic on lucite hexagon panels serves as an index to the larger pieces where Moses carefully enlarges and perfects his method.

Geodynamics 1703
Circular works like Geodesy 1505 (2019) and Geodesy 1508 (2020) both 72 inches in diameter have the feel of abstracted planets seen from afar where fields of contrasting colors: magentas, blues and yellows in Geodesy 1508 and blues, purples and greens in Geodesy 1505; oscillate, flowing from the center of the tondo in controlled arcs toward the edges. While the circular works seem like planets —contained worlds of imagined colors— the hexagons are less reminders of the natural world than the history of abstraction and color field painting.

Geodynamics 1704
Moses’ concave paintings, including Nocturne 1502 (2020) and Geomorphology 1707 (2019) are large rectangles with arced surfaces that accentuate the idea of a horizon line or a vanishing point within an abstracted landscape. Within these mysterious and luminous spaces, Moses explores tensions and energies created from expanses of interlocking colors that flow across the canvases. In Geomorphology 1707 (2020) a striation of white splits the composition into two halves. Above could be sky, below sea. Though not mirror images, the top and bottom portions of the painting have similar ripples of blue, green and yellow-orange curvilinear striations that suggest celestial storm surges or spiraling vortexes being swallowed into the sea.

Nocturne 1502
Moses is a master at his craft and his evocative and intriguing paintings allow viewers to get lost in the unknowns of abstraction and delight in the power of overlapping and contrasting colors that undulate atop the paintings. Because of their size, the paintings have a commanding presence and dominate the viewer’s field of view— which becomes an open invitation to enter into Moses’ world and to remain there as long as they are able. What they see and what they take away is dependent on how easily they are open to the idea of transcendence.

Geomorphology 1707
Cover image: Installation view, Andy Moses’ Recent Works; images courtesy William Turner Gallery