DAVID MORIARTY

Halcyon Daze

“. . . reinventing the American artistic landscape.”  Grace Glueck

“Halcyon Daze” is a lucky break set in the midst of adversity, without realizing it, as if in a daze. This state of mind seems best appreciated in hindsight and acknowledging “gee, that wasn’t so bad after all.” In his recent work of figurative paintings and abstractions, Moriarty spins on revisiting the halcyon days of his personal “pop-isms.” Content with pushing paint in an era of digital communication, the artist is both deft and daft in his pursuit.

From a recent interview conjured, Moriarty says of his allegorical paintings “I imagined myself as Billy Carter who seized the spotlight of his brother’s Presidency foisted upon him and introduced his own brand, Billy Beer. In my own bid for attention I chose to be something of a provocateur in paint, and began painting large scale weird fairy tales. My intent was at something both crass and metaphysical. Granted, I don’t feel that way all the time, but these pictures gave me a chuckle.”

Also presented in this exhibition are recent pseudo abstractions and bona fide abstractions. Inspired by sawed pieces of a fiberglass hot tub on its way to the recycle center, the artist was struck by the formal and comedic attributes of the dismembered tub and translated that inspiration to real and imagined compositions. “I was very drawn to the humor and irony of getting seriously cubist with stuff I was planning to throw out. It resonated strongly with me, bridging that hermetic wall/world of art for art’s sake with a punch line. I think that is kind of what my work is all about.”

David Moriarty has exhibited in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Miami, and Europe. His work is represented in many important public and private collections. This will be his forth solo show in New York. The artist is known for his romantic and ironic Hudson River school inspired paintings.

CREON Gallery, 238 East 24, 1B (near 2 Ave) September 7 to 29, 2011

Hours: Wed & Thu, 6 to 8 pm