It is impossible to simply walk by the Andrew Moore Artist-in-Residence Exhibit currently on display at the Jaffe-Friede & Strauss Galleries at the Hopkins Center.
A full-time artist, Moore divides his time between teaching at Princeton and the School for Visual Arts, shooting assignments and traveling to work on long-term projects. Fall term, as the Artist-in-Residence, he will participate in the Dartmouth community by attending studio classes, participating in student discussions and reviews and, most importantly, meeting with individual students.
His third solo exhibition of the year, "Photographs" consists of 16 large-scale prints from locations such as New York, Cuba and Russia. Claris Smith '06, an employee at the gallery, said that she was impressed that "each print is both colorfully magnificent and telling." More than 180 people visited "Photographs" last Friday, and, judging by the number of captivated passersby, Claris said that she expects the number of visitors to grow quickly.
"Gypsy Camp" (Sarajevo, 2002), one of the most visually striking prints in the collection, characterizes Moore's compositional style. Four children stand in the midst of a decaying residential area, adorned by laundry lines, motor vehicles, trash and dogs. Like many of his other works, "Gypsy Camp" is sectioned into geometric parts, the colors are altered in varying degrees (before printing), the natural light is unusually gentle, and the foreground and background are full from edge-to-edge.
The print also conveys Moore's artistic presence in the form of tension between natural and artificial color, as well as natural and human influence on the environment and (vivified) inanimate objects and people. There is an eerie sense of stillness and empathy that is common to this collection.
It takes more than a quick glance to appreciate the relationship among the prints. According to Gerald Auten, director of the Student Art Exhibition Program, the common thread in "Photographs" is the "surge for detail that pulls you in and works formally in the composition." Moore's craftsmanship is obviously multifaceted.
Seeing "Photographs" is an absolute must -- it is eye-catching and provocative, and it can be appreciated on many levels. Auten advises that visitors be aware of the subtle details and "odd juxtapositions between grandiosity and disillusion or decay" that function to form holistic images.
Moore's work will be on display at the Jaffe-Friede & Strauss Galleries until Dec. 3.
