Exhibition |Barbara Moore | Art That Speaks

We are delighted to invite you to the opening and talk for our new exhibition of paintings – ART THAT SPEAKS: AN ABSTRACT PERSPECTIVE by BARBARA MOORE

➽ The exhibition
‘I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say in any other way – things I had no words for.’ — Georgia O’Keeffe

Barbara Moore’s journey into the world of abstract art has not been a straightforward one. For many years, as a multidisciplinary artist, her work was figurative and representational, or else explored the decorative patterning of fabric weaving and jewellery design. Today, abstract expressionism is her preferred form of making art, work that is characterised by shapes, colours, forms and gestural brushstrokes that carry with them an impression of spontaneity.

It was only quite recently, since the mid-2010s, that Barbara Moore began to develop her painterly style that focuses on a simplicity of forms and intense, saturated pigmentation, pursuing her own freedom and experimentation. In an echo of artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Sonia Delaunay or Georgia O’Keeffe, the work reveals confident forms, dense colours and liberal brushwork. Weighty yet dynamic lines of paint, pastel and pencil meet evocations of nature in the abstractions, carrying a powerful sense of movement that is uniquely explosive and spontaneous.

For Barbara Moore, painting in this manner is not at all a retreat from the world or an exercise in formalism. Rather, it is an alternative narrative pathway to apprehending the world as she finds it and sees it. She says, ‘My paintings portray my emotional reaction to world events, the environment and the general beauty that surrounds me. My goal is to create unique blueprints or stories that creatively express these notions.’ And in doing so, she deliberately intends to elicit or perhaps provoke what she calls an ‘emotional and compassionate response from viewers, inspiring them to construct their own stories.’

Abstract art is often seen as carrying a moral or normative dimension – that it can stand for virtues such as simplicity, purity and spirituality, freer and less formal. There is something of this in Barbara Moore’s work. She states that in a society dominated by unfettered technology and commercialism, it is ‘critical’ that her paintings ‘address the human yearning to feel alive.’ Her paintings do that and much more. With shapes, colours, textures and marks, her visual language finds unexpected ways to express meanings, ideas and feelings.

 

➽ Barbara Moore
Born in Britain, Barbara Moore has led a peripatetic life, migrating to Canada in the late 1960s, sailing the oceans and settling in Penang just over ten years ago. The experiences of travel, of movement and discovery, have had a profound impact on the making of the artist. Entirely self-taught, she has spent six decades creating, working across an extraordinary range of disciplines – painting and drawing, textiles and fashion, photography and jewellery design.

It was as a young mother in Canada that Barbara really found the motivation to create clothing for her daughters which then expanded to sewing and knitting for friends and neighbours. Travels to United States, Mexico, India and Nepal provided the opportunities to source semi-precious stones to design and make jewellery. In time, this led to the construction of a weaving studio, running a craft boutique, and drawing and painting while living on one of the Gulf Islands in British Columbia.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Barbara and her husband Mike sold their house and belongings and set off to see the world in a 34-foot sailboat. It was during these 13 years of travelling that she honed her drawing skills. Creating sketches and portraits of various islands and their inhabitants and sharing them with the local people gave her a sense of connection and friendship.

Finally settling in Penang in 2013, it was shortly after that she began to question her former aversion to abstract art and, in time, to embrace its possibilities fully through painting in acrylic.

Barbara has participated in solo and groups exhibitions in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi (Malaysia), Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima/Korat (Thailand), Geoje (South Korea) and Québec (Canada). Her unique works have featured in numerous art magazines and today reside in private collections in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain and Thailand.

Free admission

Hikayat
226 Lebuh Pantai
George Town
10300 Penang

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