MARIO MOORE

Artist talk at the Harlem School of the Arts

2016-02-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

I am so happy I was able to have this show at the Harlem School of the Arts. Please take some time and listen to the talk between me and HSA Visual Arts Director Jonathan Patton.

Interview with artsdotblack

2015-03-11T12:53:00.003-07:00

Hello everyone,

It has been some time since my last post. I urge you to check out my website if you have not already as the majority of my work will be posted there from now on. Here I will keep you up to date with news and things like this interview I am featured in that I will post below. Please check out artsdotblack.tumblr.com as they are a great site for contemporary art of the African Diaspora.

http://artsdotblack.tumblr.com/post/112427504295/in-conversation-with-artist-mario-moore-by-taylor

Also I figure I would hit you with a new piece,

Peace, Love and Afro grease

Smack Mellon January 17th

2015-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

I will be included in this very pertinent show in response to the systematic encroachment of police brutality.

Exhibition Dates: January 17- February 22, 2015

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 17, 5 to 8pm

Dumbo First Thursday Gallery Walk: February 5, 7:30 to 9pm

Featuring Don't Shoot, a poetry reading curated by Samuel Jablon,
including poets: Anomalous who, Steve Dalachinsky, Joyce LeeAnn Joseph,

Patricia Spears Jones, Yuko Otomo, and Peter Rugh

Performance: Saturday, January 31 at 7pm

Anthology: UK (Jack Tan), a performance by Clifford Owens

Closing Reception: February 22 at 4pm

I Can't Breath, a self-defense workshop/performance by Shaun Leonardo

*Additional public programs will be planned and presented throughout the run of the exhibition. Please visit our website www.smackmellon.org for updates.

After learning of the grand jury's decision to not indict Daniel Pantaleo, Smack Mellon postponed a planned exhibition in order to respond to the continued failure of the United States to protect its black citizens from police discrimination and violence. In order to channel our outrage into actions that can facilitate systemic change, Smack Mellon's gallery space will be used to present events, performances and artworks that affirm that black lives matter, express frustration and anger with the institutional racism that enables law enforcement to kill black members of the community with impunity, and imagine creative solutions and visionary alternatives to a broken justice system.

Smack Mellon's current Studio Artists Esteban del Valle, Molly Dilworth, Oasa DuVerney, Ira Eduardovna, Steffani Jemison, and Dread Scott worked with Smack Mellon staff as lead organizers of RESPOND.

Over 600 artists working at all levels and in all media submitted work for the large exhibition that serves as the focal point of RESPOND. More than 200 voices of artists living across the country and internationally from seven countries were selected and will be represented in sculpture, video, and two-dimensional work-including emerging artists, mid-career artists, and young people exhibiting side-by-side.

Esteban del Valle, a Smack Mellon studio artist and muralist with Groundswell, will work on a mural with local teens to be included in the exhibition. Other works include: Heather Hart's participatory drawing Skinned, where she invites visitors to press a piece of gold leaf onto the prepared surface of the drawing in exchange for a wish, responding specifically to the context of police violence; Mel Chin's 1993 prototype of Night Rap, a weapon/tool hybrid made from an actual enforcement officer's nightstick; and Nina Berman's photograph

Funeral for Jose Luis Lebron, 1990. Nina's description of this image sums things up:

On January 31, 1990 at 5:30 pm, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York Police Officer Frank Albergo shot and killed 14-year-old Jose Luis Lebron, who was unarmed. An autopsy showed that Lebron was shot squarely in the back of the head. Albergo had been chasing Lebron for allegedly having robbed someone of $10.00 and claimed Lebron had been reaching for a gun. Eyewitnesses told a different tale. Four days earlier, also in Brooklyn, another police officer, shot and killed 17-year-old unarmed Louis Liranso. The two shootings touched off protest marches in Brooklyn. Both officers were cleared of any wrong doing. At Lebron's funeral family member were overcome by grief and some tried to jump into the gravesite. The 2014 killings of Eric Garner and Akai Gurley, currently in the news, top a long list of similar shootings by the NYPD that have been going on for decades. With each new killing, old cases fall deeper down the list, and are quickly forgotten except by family members and loved ones. Jose Luis Lebron is one of those cases.

Smack Mellon's 5,000 square foot gallery is being provided to community organizers, activists, artists, writers and performers to organize, collaborate, speak, perform, teach, lead and act. Events will continue to be planned and presented throughout the run of the exhibition. A calendar of events will be updated regularly on our website,www.smackmellon.org.

Exhibiting Artists as of Jan 8th :
Atikur Abdul, Doba Afolabi, Eozen Agopian, All Hands on Deck, Ben Altman, Albert Areizaga, Andrea Arroyo, Carole Ashley, Ron Baron, Amanda Barragry, Kimberly Becoat, Anthea Behm, Allison Behrstock, Daniel Bejar, Guy Ben-Ari, Jesus Benavente, Nina Berman, Tom Bogaert, Patricia Brace, Faith Briggs, Michael Paul Britto, Elliott Brown, Melissa Calderon, Luisa Caldwell, Crystal Z Campbell, David Cassidy, Colin Chase, Bivas Chaudhuri, Mel Chin, William Claps, Tim Clifford, Tracy Collins, William Cordova, Brandon Cox, Molly Crabapple, Carla Cubit, Damien Davis, Andre Davis, Sophia Dawson, Sharon De La Cruz, Rosetta DeBerardinis, Joseph DeLappe, Esteban delvalle, Elizabeth Dorbad, Luba Drozd, Oasa DuVerney, Alexander Dwinell, Louise Eastman, Melissa Eder, Savior Elmundo, Nicky Enright, Liz Ensz, Stevenson Estima, Sarah Farahat, Danielle Faulkner, Nona Faustine, Felipe Galindo, Daniel Giles, Jessica Goehring, Kyle Goen, Tami Gold, Shane Gooding, Kearra Gopee, Risha Gorig, Morgan Green, Emily Greenberg, Sanae Guerin, Ronald Hall, Ryan Hanson, Carla Jay Harris, Christopher Harrison, Heather Hart, Sharon Hayes, Mary Henderson, Rohan Henry, YK Hong, Germaine "Coco" Howard, Akiko Ichikawa, Tomashi Jackson, Shani Jamila, Steffani Jemison, Olalekan Jeyifous, Ann Johnson, Leon Johnson, Andrew Ellis Johnson, Olivia Johnston, Weber Jordan, Ayesha Jordan, David Joseph Jr, Dana Kane, Gautam Kansara, Kylene Kasch, Jerry Kearns, Coby Kennedy, Leslie Kerby, Basil Kincaid, Noelle King, Nsenga Knight, Mensa Kondo, Sandra Koponen, Anthony Lee, JC Lenochan, Jeremy Levine, Lmnopi, Dave Loewenstein, Vidho Lorville, Miguel Luciano, Wolf Luman, Jason Maas, Nina Macintosh, Maya Mackrandilal, Rhasaan Manning, Christina Massey, Rose Materdomini, Bud McNichol, Myra Miller, Al Miller, Amaris Modesto, Mario Moore, Ti-Rock Moore, Nyeema Morgan, Margaret Murphy, NCA 2nd Period Dance Class, Doris Neidl, Christopher Oates, Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh, Shaw Osha, Zakiya Owens, Mario Padilla, Kwan Taeck Park, Jason Patterson, Jessica Ann Peavey, Joshua Peters, Andrew Phan, Mary Pinto, Terrance Pitts, Jenny Polak, Carol Quint, Sarah Quinter, Issa Randall, Kameelah Rasheed, Nadine Renazile, Ayla Rexroth, Roberto Rischmaui, Shellyne Rodriguez, Benjamin Rojas, Margaret Roleke, Bayete Ross Smith, Russ Rowland, Jaffia Royes, Jude Rubenstein, Cynthia Ruse, Ashleigh Sampson, Sarah Sandman, Romulo Sans, Mariel Santana, Sol Sax, Cesali Scarola, Dread Scott, Jean Seestadt, Jessica Segall, Carole Seligman, Beldan Sezen, Rudy Shepherd, Kim Sillen, Jeffrey Sims, Monifa Skerritt-Perry, Sable Smith, Mariangeles Soto-Diaz, Fedele Spadafora, Savannah Spirit, Kurt Steger, Preach Sun, Dan Tague, Megan Tatem, Mirland Terlonge, Hank Willis Thomas, Ebony Thompson, Melissa Vandenberg, Kelly Vetter, Dareece Walker, Leila Weefur, Daryl Wells, Nafis White, Michelle Williams, Divine Williams, JB Wilson, Spencer Wolff, Jave Yoshimoto, Or Zubalsky, and Sarah Zucker

New Website!!

2015-01-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

mariomoorestudio.com

Check out the new website. There you can see new work. I will still use my blog but more of my finished work will now be seen on the website above.

Drawing and Drawing

2014-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Mary, Graphite on paper, 60 x 33, 2014

Finished piece in a series of drawings about women of color

2014-09-10T14:23:00.001-07:00

Iman, Graphite on paper, 48 x 34, 2014

I picked the world up and it dropped me on my fucking head

2014-09-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

I picked the world up and it dropped me on my fucking head, Oil on canvas, 62 x 40, 2014

Show at WCCD, good company!!!

2014-02-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

So this happened which is great. I love the company I am in.

This also happened below, please read.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140130/ENT01/301300016

Headed to Detroit at the N'Namdi Contemporary Arts Center

2014-01-06T09:20:00.002-08:00

Herstory, Oil on copper, 34 x 28, 2013

Work

2014-01-06T09:18:00.001-08:00

Portrait as Juan de Pareja, Oil on wood, 24 x 19, 2013

Almost a new year

2013-12-16T12:44:00.003-08:00

Hello All it has been a while since I have posted something on my blog. I have new work that I have recently finished that I will post later because I have to take photos with a great camera in the meantime I have recently been included in a show in New York. The show is currently up at Driscoll Babcock Galleries in Chelsea and it closes January 18th. If you are in the city please go and check it out, here are some links to check out about the show.

http://www.mdaily.co/exhibitions/2013/12/12/corpus-americus-curated-by-dexter-wimberly

http://www.driscollbabcock.com/exhibitions/installation/corpus-americus#3

Here is an excerpt about the show.

PRESS RELEASE

Opening Reception: Thursday, December 12, 2013, 6-8PM

DRISCOLL BABCOCK GALLERIES presents Corpus Americus, an exhibition of contemporary American art that explores the question, “what does it mean to be an American today?” The exhibition’s title is derived from the Latin phrase Habeas Corpus, which translates into "you shall have the body."Habeas Corpus is an important, often-manipulated legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom from arbitrary state action. The human body, manifested through art, is an apt symbol to represent our individual lives, as well as our shared fate.

Corpus Americus is a collection of new work by a dynamic group of 10 emerging and mid-career American artists that challenges the viewer to consider the evolving notion of individual and collective American identity.

Working in a range of media including painting, drawing and sculpture, the artists featured in the exhibition present varied manifestations of the human body as a proxy, representing American identity politics and social hierarchies. In their work, the artists employ myriad methodologies and processes to present emotionally charged presentations of the human body. While all of the exhibition’s contemporary artists do not necessarily work exclusively in portraiture or figuratively as a practice, all are interested in confronting conventional notions of identity and representation.

Corpus Americus is curated by Dexter Wimberly and features work by artists: Margaret Bowland; Caitlin Cherry; Derek Fordjour; Valerie Hegarty; Doron Langberg; Simone Leigh; Mario Moore; Jenny Morgan; Jennifer Packer; and Nathaniel Mary Quinn.

Together

2013-05-16T13:20:00.001-07:00

Together, Oil on canvas, 69 x 54, 2013

Worship her

2013-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Drifting on a sea of stars, Oil on canvas, 96 x 60, 2013

Old and New

2013-03-11T10:48:00.002-07:00

Revolution on your front porch, Oil on canvas, 72 x 54, 2013

Private Collection

Grisaille of Oshun, Oil on canvas, 56 x 44, 2012

Posted, Oil on canvas, 84 x 60, 2013

Policed, silicone, resin, pigment, plexi-glass, 4 x 7, 2013

Siriusly, Oil and gold leaf on canvas, 96 x 54, 2013

A clear sky after the storm, MFA thesis show!!!

2013-02-25T15:05:00.001-08:00

Whooooooo!!!!! So I am finished with my thesis show but the interesting thing about having it in the middle of the semester is that I have more work to do still. Still more gains to make and more findings to explore. This is an installation view of the room that I was in along with, Wayde, Lucia, and Jon.

These paintings are on copper.

Jewel 2, Oil on copper, 12 x 20, 2013

Private Collection

Jewel 1, Oil on copper, 12 x 20, 2013

Private Collection

The title of the painting on the left is "Siriusly", and yes it is meant to be spelled that way. The symbol that is done in gold left represents Canis Major, the constellation, with the star Sirius in the middle.

Not yet sure what the title of the peace in the middle is just yet, it may be "post white enough?"

Raid on Harpers Ferry, Graphite and Plexi-glass, 36 x 16, 2013

Private Collection

Policed, silicone, resin, pigment, plexi-glass, 4 x 7, 2013

Much Love, Peace

Grisaille of Oshun

2012-11-18T18:49:00.001-08:00

I have a little work to do here but here you go.

Much Love

Post what?

2012-11-18T18:47:00.002-08:00

Marcus Garvey knew, Oil on canvas, 84 x 60, 2012

New Cool

2012-11-18T18:44:00.001-08:00

Self Portrait, Oil on canvas, 16 x 14.5, 2012

Come here, Oil on wood, 24 x 18, 2012

Yale Daily News

2012-10-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

I appeared in the Yale news for a show that will be coming down this weekend.

check it out.
peace, I will be back soon with new paintings.

Moore ART ’13 shows paintings at The Study

Paintings by Mario Moore ART ’13 recently went on view at the gallery of The Study hotel. Photo by Kamaria Greenfield.

By Yuval Ben-David

Contributing Reporter

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Mario Moore ART ’13 does not have to walk very far to view his work on display: a new show of Moore’s paintings is located conveniently at The Study hotel, right across the street from his studio in the School of Art’s Green Hall. After receiving his BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit in 2009, Moore worked as a set sculptor before coming to Yale to pursue graduate studies. The News spoke with Moore about his show at The Study and about the relative limits of painting versus drawing.
Q To start off, what’s the subject of the show?
A The subject mainly deals with people in general — in conflict, people in conflict. I guess it has to do with societal hierarchies — being a black man or a black woman in America. It deals with those issues.
Q Did something specific prompt this?
A Well, I’m from Detroit, so I guess being from a Midwestern city, because Michigan is majority white. So there’s a lot of racial issues, even in a big city, but it’s not the same issues you’d see in a southern 60s, 50s kind of place. But it’s kind of hidden. Weird things happen.
Q Has New Haven influenced that impression?
A Yeah, because I feel like there’s a disconnect between the city-dwellers and Yale. There’s that tension there.
Q What subjects do you keep coming back to?
A I think I always come back to portraiture, because I feel like it’s a way to connect a person with an image, [to] connect a person with a person within an image.
Q And are there specific models you come back to?
A No, I don’t have specific models, but specific ideas, dealing with hair and beauty in black women, and the power of a black figure within a painting and what that means.
Q How do you pick what gets shown?
A Well, here, I had to edit down, because I had some stuff that probably wouldn’t be too acceptable to a hotel. Like, there was one piece with a middle finger, just a portrait of me with a middle finger. People probably wouldn’t be too comfortable seeing that on a hotel wall, so I just tried to find stuff that I felt would fit the space.
Q And you have another show right now, in Detroit?
A Yeah, I have a show at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. It’s a group show. That’s not a solo show.
Q Why do artists go to school?
A That’s a great question. For the most part, it’s to connect with other people. It’s basically a huge network. I see it as a networking opportunity, a way to develop your ideas because you’re learning from people that are essentially in the business. Like in any other field, we want to learn from the best. You gotta go talk to the best.
Q I always thought of art as a solitary craft.
A Well sometimes it can be, you know, the artists in their studio, not talking to anybody, not eating any food, going hungry — a starving weird guy. But it’s actually good to have a community in life, to talk to people and get your ideas flowing.
Q You do both etchings and paintings. How do you approach those differently?
A I approach the etchings differently. I have a lot more freedom with etching and drawing than with painting. I started painting senior year of high school, but I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid. I feel like the graphic space of a drawing is a lot freer than a painting to me. I’m trying to learn a new approach. I’m trying to feel that out in my paintings.
Q How do you decide when a painting is finished?
A Oh man, that’s a good question. You almost never know. Because I can say a painting’s finished, especially in this program, and then you get, “You got this to do. You should do that. That’s wrong. You need to wipe that out. You need to paint this over.” But I think it’s just when I’m trying to get my point across and I feel like that’s what’s coming across, then I consider it done.
Q After you got your BFA you worked as a set sculptor on film sets. What does that entail?
A A set sculptor works in the warehouse, essentially, with the contractors, the carpenters, the plant guys, the set director guys, and we basically construct the set that the film’s gonna happen on. So, I worked on the movie “Real Steel,” with Hugh Jackman and I worked on “Red Dawn,” which is soon to come out as a remake of the 80s [movie] Red Dawn. Basically, all we did was sculpt rocks and trees, Every tree and rock that you see in a movie is probably not even real, it’s probably a foam object and then they put plaster over it and they paint it and make it look real. My boss sculpted an entire tree just so they could shoot it up.
Q Do you still sculpt?
A Yeah, I’m actually working on some sculpture this year. I’m trying to get back into it.

2012-10-13T11:32:00.002-07:00

Charles H Wright Museum
It has been sooooooo long since I have posted anything and I have been quite busy. I am very blessed to have co-curated and been a part of this great show. Please take a look at the link and also make your way to the museum if you can.

Peace and love, Mario

Great American Artists - Part III: The Seeds

September 6, 2012 - January 6, 2013

Great American Artists is an exhibition of new figurative works by artists Christopher Batten, Endia Beal, Halima Cassells, Alonzo Edwards, Sydney James, Gregory Johnson, Richard Lewis, Mario Moore, Sabrina Nelson and Senghor Reid. Through a series of studio visits, collaborative meetings and documentation, these artists developed a consortium with two major goals in mind: to increase collaboration among artists in Detroit and to strengthen the network of artists who employ similar themes in their work. Divided into a three-part series, subtitled Roots, Branches, and Seeds, this year-long exhibition represents the generational structure of the group and the development of the artists.
Exhibiting third are Endia Beal, Sydney G. James, and Mario Moore, who form the “Seeds” of the group. They have used inspiration derived from The Roots and Branches to create works that address the social issues of today. All three hope that their work will resonate on a personal level with their viewers.

Richard Lewis

2012-08-27T17:23:00.001-07:00

Richard Lewis, Kresge Fellow 2011

This Video is of my great mentor Richard Lewis I find his paintings very inspiring. He gives pertinence to his family and friends in his portraits. They seem to set a very still tone that confronts the viewer in an unannounced portrayal of importance. I truly enjoy searching his canvases for every mark and always find my self surprised with the way the paints sits against another brushstroke or interlocks with another color. His layers of paint create depth that is seen within the paint itself and not the image. One stroke lays on top of the other in such a complex way that it almost seems that each stroke is multiplied just by his skill. A great painter indeed.

check out the link above for the video, it would not let me embed it.

Also I have been slow to update here but there has been a lot that has happened recently. I am a second year officially now at Yale and I have a solo show coming up not to mention a group show at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. I will post all the information on these shows soon as well as some new paintings I have been working on.

If you don't know now you know!!

Etchings!!!!!!!!!!

2012-07-22T19:05:00.001-07:00

Wayde, Etching, 9 x 10.5, 2011

Bomani, Etching, 9 x 9, 2011

Drea sleeping, Etching, 8 x 7, 2011

Side, Etching, 9.5 x 10, 2011

Lucia, drypoint, 7 x 11, 2011

Studio hazard, Etching, 8 x 12.5, 2011

Meena, Etching, 8 x 11, 2011

X, Etching, 15 x 15, 2011

Nontsi, Etching, 14 x 14, 2011

That looks like someone's son to me, Etching, 12.5 x 8, 2012

Portrait, Ecthing, 6 x 6, 2011

These etchings were made during my first year at Yale. The images at the top are more recent, I enjoy etching because there is a graphic visceral quality to the material, the outcome is unknown and the process is meditative. The final result is always unexpected and many times you find that what was in your mind as the initial image has improved through the medium or changed radically.

If you don't know now you know

2012-05-07T14:47:00.004-07:00

Some close ups and studio shots to give you some perspective on the sizes of some of the pieces.

More at the end

2012-05-07T14:43:00.002-07:00

Getting ready, Oil on canvas, 24 x 30, 2012

Entrance, Oil on linen, 12 x 15, 2012

Doorway, Oil on cabinet door, 14 x 29, 2012

Hot Sauce, Oil on wood, 9 x 12, 2012

Private Collection

Joyce, Oil on canvas, 24 x 36, 2012

Private Collection

Happy New Year, Oil on canvas, 32 x 24, 2012

Stranger to a Child's drawing, Oil on canvas, 84 x 72, 2011

Everlasting, Oil on linen, 48 x 48, 2012

Here is some more for you all to check out, these pieces are also from this semester. Had to work hard and I feel like I had a pretty good output. The one thing that sucks about some of the images is that the colors can never really come close to what they look like in person. The painting with Ali at the bottom of this post was one of the last paintings I finished this semester, I will put detail images of this painting and others in the next post.

If you don't know now you know!

First Year at Yale done

2012-05-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Charohn, Graphite on paper, 28 x 36, 2012

Fuck Drawing, ink on paper, 36 x 24, 2012

destroyed by water damage

Endia, Oil on linen, 24 x 32, 2012

Private Collection

Young Scholar, Oil on copper, 5 x 7, 2012

Private Collection

Let us trade, Oil on wood framed, 22 x 19, 2012

Wayde, Oil on canvas stretched on panel, 6 x 7, 2012

Private Collection

Come Study, Oil on canvas with wooden box, 42 x 33, 2012

Stranger to a child's drawing 2, Oil on canvas, 48 x 32

Private Collection

So here are some new works from this past semester and I will post more after this is published. This first year has helped me to grow in my exploration and the resources at YALE are unlimited to say the least. So take a look at the work, leave a response and we can have a dialogue about the pieces in this post as well as the next.

Peace, love and afro grease!