Through her use of intense color and her visceral application of paint, Ali Smith creates abstract planes that exist in a constant state of flux and conflict. David Ryan creates his nebulous, stacked wall sculptures from the most mundane of materials, MDF, taking inspiration from functional design classics.
Ali Smith
Mark Moore Gallery is pleased to present new paintings from emerging talent Ali
Smith. Through her use of intense color and her visceral application of paint,
Smith creates abstract planes that exist in a constant state of flux and conflict.
Raw areas of pure, primary color butt up against focused linear details, these
shifting environments at once both unstable landscapes and architectural anomalies.
The undulating surfaces created are simultaneously seductively enthralling and
organically crude. By having no fixed resolution in mind, her paintings adopt the
interpretative possibility of text; the surface of her canvases becoming both visual
and temporal narratives through their spatial presence and her sedimentary
application of paint. The evolutionary quality of her paintings allows an emotional
intensity that roams the course from somber contemplation to joyful spontaneity.
[Ali Smith’s] canny knack for whimsy permits a delicate balance to exist between
purely decorative gestures and those of grotesque vulgarity.
Leslie Markle
Ali Smith received her MFA from California State University, Long Beach, CA in 2003.
In this past year alone she has had solo shows in Los Angeles, Boston and Houston
as well as exhibiting her work in group shows in New York, Germany and Austria among
others. She was recently included in Christopher Knight’s article “45 Painters Under
45” in the Los Angeles Times. This will be here second solo exhibition at the Mark
Moore Gallery. Ali Smith lives and works in Long Beach, CA.
Project Room
David Ryan
Mark Moore Gallery is pleased to present new work by acclaimed Las Vegas artist
David Ryan in the Project Room. David Ryan creates his nebulous, stacked wall
sculptures from the most mundane of materials, MDF, taking inspiration from
functional design classics. The results are sleek and sassy combinations of shape
and color. Yet Ryan’s slick design-conscious aesthetic can act as a frivolous
distraction from the complexity of his work. The interlocking planes create an
interplay of line, shape and shadow, generating perceptual conundrums that enthrall
the viewer, forcing them to spatially interact with the pieces. Just as the physical
planes of his work are shaped to reveal deeper layers, his pieces reveal obfuscated
intricacies, distorting the boundaries between commonplace and ethereal, organic and
machine, art and design.
The amorphous yet deliberate, sensuous shapes created by David Ryan are not quite
paintings and not quite sculpture. They waver between the two states, and it’s this
wavering that seduces the eye into a very lush abstraction.
Gregory Crosby
David Ryan received his BFA from the University of Texas in Austin, TX before making
the move to earn his MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV where he
studied under Dave Hickey. His work has been exhibited widely across the United
States and was last year included in Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art
From The Neon Homeland, at the Las Vegas Art Museum in Las Vegas, NV, which is
currently on display at Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA. This will be his forth
solo exhibition at the Mark Moore Gallery. David Ryan lives and works in Las Vegas.
Image: David Ryan
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 28th, 5-7pm
Mark Moore Gallery
Bergamot Station A1 2525 Michigan Avenue - Santa Monica
Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10 - 6 pm, Saturday 11- 5pm
Free admission