 |
| Donald Zinteck |
I know this artist well, and yet, we have never met. I recognize all the qualities that make an artist while previewing her "Moo Nudes" book publication. You know those qualities, the kind where an artist who is so lost in their creativity that only life's essentials—such as sleep and nutrition—can interrupt that creative process.
In reviewing Monika Mori's "Moo Nudes", you begin to understand the inner workings of an artist creating such a body of work (no pun intended) or as I will call it—a study of the nude body. Why a study? I can feel the development of each piece of art—or in many cases—where one painting ends and continues through another.
I begin to know this artist as I view her cover image "Venus 2008". Spontaneous, yet calculated. Aggressive with a delicate ambiguity. Are those arms or wings or feathers, I wonder? I guess it does not matter, everything else seems appropriately placed. I am voting for wings though, there is something special about this piece!
"Zweiheit Left and Right" and "dEcADec-nCE 4u" and "dEcADec-nCE 4me" confirm the development of a body of work. I am sure Moo can be halfway through a painting and have ideas for ten more, and each of those ten evolve into another ten concepts. Her creative mind must race with thoughts of “So little time ... I NEED PAINT ... I NEED CANVAS ... I MUST SLEEP ... I MUST EAT! Where has the day gone? What am I working on? Where is my coffee?"
Thus goes the life of creativity. It is fuel for the mind and fuel for the soul. One falls asleep with these images in her head and wakes up with "Die Zarin." It is not where she was yesterday but this is where her canvas is going today. I see the dreamlike figure painting but am I seeing more? I am, but enough said. Spend some time with this image and you find yourself asking, “Where did this come from? Is it my first painting of the day.or the last one?” It is very dreamlike, so I am saying this is her first painting after a long hard sleep. Nightmares? Fantasy? Your choice, I am going with fantasy!
And then there is “Theres”, and “My May”, and “Klara” and “Adele”. One should be so lucky as to be painted this way or is it to be painted as part of a study? The ladies are so wonderfully similar are they friends, family, or perhaps another developing figure in the artist’s mind where Klara just evolved out of Theres. I am sure of it. I think.
Moo's "Skin to Skin" is quite a curious painting for me. She is not just rolling herself onto a painted canvas again, is she? I do love the cave painting primitive style of this piece, yet I see many structural body elements subtly hidden on the face of this canvas. I would love to see this original. Oh, by the way, does this look like any of the previous paintings? NOPE! Mood swings, emotions, anger, apathy, artistic license, all come into play as an artist develops her works, her study.
I especially like the mixed media piece “Flora”. The watercolor wash of bright and intense colors, the delicate lines of the pen and ink. I am sure this is "Klara", she moves like her. But where did these colors come from, were these the fantasies of “Theres” with the lines of “Klara”? I am sure Moo could tell us, and she just did with this painting. Say no more, my mind is filling in the blanks (as all art should). I do not evaluate each stroke, each line, each color. I take each for what it is worth. I embrace the element of interpretation. We all see art differently, that is a good thing.
“Friederyke” and “Liz” seem to have evolved into the looseness of Barbra where less is more. Josephine and Milly and Milly again and Kyra, who just seems so friendly—all evoke many of our daily emotions through Moo's masterful techniques of colorful washes and ink
Moo's very powerful piece "Sorrow" stopped me in my tracks. The weight of the black background, the shape of the figure. Has the weight of the world preyed on this figure? The strokes of red! Anger, pity, blood rushing emotions? Not just a pretty figure here, almost prehistoric in simplicity. No doubt about the emotions. The head becomes almost doglike to me. Sorrow? Surely!
“Abraham” seems a much more serious painting. A deft hand in figure drawing...a sophisticated use of color in the deep burgundy and magenta over the grayish green wash background. Truly...truly a skilled piece of work that I admired when coming to this page. One can be loose and spontaneous—which can be harder than such a sophisticated figure drawing—and we see both from Moo in this book.
“Hildegard” as well as “Irmgaard” are show stoppers in my mind. When you have done all your studies, and developed all your techniques, you get to the point of these truly interpretive paintings. The colors merging between subject and background. The confident strokes of the shapes and contours. Aggressive! Angry! Sensual! Accomplished! I love them.
OK, I am not saying much about Summertime and Belinda. Self portraits, I don't know. Curiously whimsical, I must say.
The "Frewild" series shows how fast the mind is working—faster than the paintbrush. I am sure Moo was wildly creating these shapes into many color studies and paintings. The shapes are hypnotic in nature although I am sure the middle figure must be "Klara" once again. Moo explores so many emotions, techniques, media and styles. I am certain there is a favorite "Klara" for everyone in this book.
It is a must read, or at least, a must VIEW! Congratulations on a well accomplished body of work (no pun intended).
Donald Zinteck
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen