Michael Moon
Michael Moon Los Angeles, California - United States | ABOUT THE ARTIST Born and raised in Southern California, Michael Moon knew he wanted to be an artist since the second grade. From this time until he graduated from college he sporadically continued his interest in painting, drawing and art history, but decided on a career in education. After finishing his M.A. in Educational Psychology, he began a combination of formal study at Art Center College of Design and UCLA in addition to his own experimentation and process in which he explored his continued attraction to painting. Influenced especially by El Greco's passion, the Impressionist's love of color and the Expressionist's love of paint, for the next eight years he painted essentially in solitude. During this time he also began to be influenced by Eastern thought as well as the practice of meditation. It is during this time that he began to integrate Eastern and Western thought in the symbolism of his paintings. Ultimately for him the process perhaps is even more important than the product. Mr. Moon continues to refine and synthesize his journey through the vehicle of painting. Over the last decade he has had numerous solo and group shows, especially in California and the East Coast. ARTIST STATEMENT Painting is a means to create whatever comes to me. It is a creative experience which translates into a spiritual exercise - a spiritual workout as it were. It becomes a conversation with myself, which sometimes resonates immediately - other times with a struggle - but a process, however it unfolds, that hopefully is honest, real and valid. PAINTING PROCESS Whenever I start a painting it is with passion, excitement and anticipation as I am both participant and observer as color, shape, and form evolve onto a blank canvas. Color for me comes from a joy of having hues interplay with each other - light to dark, soft to strong, muted to bold, blended to contrasted. This use of color becomes an alchemist's palette - with a result not predetermined - but with bits and incidents of color unfolding on their own terms. Often I see myself in this process as a vessel or conduit where form, color and shape take their own journey and take their deserved place on a surface. Consciously or not, there is always a conversation among the tools and materials used and myself. The result, when successful, is a hopefully recognizable and enduring mystery that resonates a deep-seated familiarity from the viewer. SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (SOLO): 2008 Adamar Gallery, Miami, FL, "California Dreaming", November Artamo Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, "Inner Spaces", March 2007 Don O'Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Meditations II", October See Gallery, W. Hollywood, CA, "Black/White", June Lotus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Pathways Revisited", May Opus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Open Spaces", April 2006 ArtAmo Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, "Black and White", November Solaris Gallery, West Hollywood, CA, "Pathways 3", February 2005 Solaris Gallery, West Hollywood, CA, "Pathways II", November ArtAmo Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, "Pathways", September Solaris Gallery, West Hollywood, CA, "Pathways", February 2004 Don O'Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Portals ", February 2003 William Torphy Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, "Tranquility II", September William Torphy Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, "Tranquility", June Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, CA, "Meditations", January 2002 Don O' Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Unspoken Moments", January 2000 Don O' Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Liquid Time", May 1998 Sunyata Gallery , San Pedro, CA, "Perseverance", May 1992 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Opposites Attract, January 1991 Mt. Saint Mary's College, Los Angeles, CA, "Contemporary Images", Dec Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Portraits from L.A", September 1987 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "Religious Trappings", January SELECTED EXHIBITIONS (GROUP): 2009 Adamar Gallery, Miami, FL, "Abstraction Revisited", May Artamo Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, "Take Five", June 2006 ArtAmo,Gallery,Santa Barbara, CA, "Works on Paper", December Klapper Gallery, West Hollywood, CA, "Into the Unknown", October Robert Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA, "Summer Show", July-August Lotus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Group Show, July Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, CA, "13", June-August Vision 21 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Group Show, February Solaris Gallery,West Hollywood, CA, "Envisions", September ArtAmo Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, Group Show, April 2004 Cheryl Hazan Fine Art, NYC, NY, "Red Show", December Jung Dang Art Halls, Group Show, May 2001 Don O'Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Group Show, June Don O'Melveny Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Group Show, April 1998 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Orlando Gallery Connection, August Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Untitled, January 1997 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, "40th Anniversary Show", May St. Mathew's Sanctuary, Santa Monica, CA, "Epiphany", April 1994 Christopher John Gallery, Untitled, May 1992 Santa Monica Fine Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA, "Monolith's", November 1990 Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA, "Images of St. Sebastian", September Religious Painting Exhibition, Redding, CA, Untitled 1988 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Untitled, January 1987 Tortue Gallery, Shanti Foundation, Santa Monica, Untitled, September Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, CA, "Art & Spirituality", August 1986 Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Untitled, November LAART, New York City, "California Artists", February CORPORATE COLLECTIONS: QAD Corp., Santa Barbara CA CareFirst, Los Angeles, CA Orrick Corp., Washington, DC Corporate Office Properties, Washington, DC Equity Office Properties, Los Angeles, CA Karin and Rudolph Troller, Basel, Switzerland Corporate Offices, San Diego, CA SELECTED PUBLICATIONS: Santa Barbara Independent, March 18, 2008 Casa Magazine, February 29, 2008 Santa Barbara News Press/Scene Magazine, November 24, 2006 Food and Home Magazine, September, 2005 Santa Barbara News, September, 2005 L.A. Weekly, January, 1992 Los Angeles, Calendar, January 1992 Los Angeles Times, "Art This Week", January 1, 1992 Art In America Annual, 1988-89 Los Angeles Times, "Eye on the Arts", December 1987 Los Angeles Times , Calendar, January 1987 |