Nicelle Beauchene Gallery is pleased to present Laugh Until My Teeth Fall Out, an exhibition of new paintings by Kristine Moran.

For this exhibition, Kristine Moran expands her dialogue between abstraction and representation through ebullient depictions of carnivals, weddings, fairs and other fantasy-laden venues. By re-imagining the highly fabricated spectacle of these events, Moran illuminates the plasticity and artifice that pervade these arenas. Characteristically, her hallucinogenic territories are fractured and distorted, yet balanced by the richness in palette, gesture and reference. With witty shifts that collapse time, space and sound, Moran presents the protagonists of Laugh Until My Teeth Fall Out as being slightly impaired and dysfunctional.

In Merry-Go-Round Broke Down, a white carousel horse is dislodged from the favorite children’s ride, becoming almost feral as it escapes from its confines. Alluding to the mythical ‘knight in shining armor’ with its galloping stride (a theme also consistent in weddings) Moran blends theatrical illusion with a grand sense of performance. After the Last Dance, the title a nod to Heilmann’s Save the Last Dance for Me, depicts a bride with a wedding cake atop her head gorging on the celebratory bouquet. While Heilmann’s title suggests the last dance is yet to come (or the best is yet to come), Moran’s point of entry occurs when the last dance is over. The bride, collapsing upon the conclusion of the event, has hit the pivotal moment of psychological and emotional breakdown that so often marks Moran’s dynamic paintings.

Canadian born artist Kristine Moran lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received her MFA from Hunter College in 2008. Moran has shown internationally with exhibitions at Monica De Cardenas Gallery in Milan; Anna Kustera Gallery, NY; Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto; and an upcoming exhibition this fall at Monte Clark Gallery, Toronto. Moran is currently participating in the residency program at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation.