Richard Moon | Conundrum | 2023 - CHARLIE SMITH LONDON

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Biography

Richard Moon
Born: 1971
EDUCATION
2002-2005	Post-Graduate Diploma Fine Art	Royal Academy Schools, London
1999-2002	BA (Hons) Painting (1st Class)	Camberwell College of Art, London
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2012	Asa Nisi Masa	Rathbone Art Studios, London
2010	Plastic Time	Madder 139, London
2007	Kin	The Wyer Gallery, London
2007	The Tower	Klinkhammer Projects, Dusseldorf
2006	New Paintings	The Wyer Gallery, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021	Primeval	CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London
2019	Etchings	Dekka-Arts, Margate
2018	Secret Charter	Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
2018	Artwave Festival 2018	Lewes
2017	Chaos, Contrasts, Change	OHOS Gallery, Reading
2016	Fire and Water	OHOS Gallery, Reading
2016	After Realism	Gallerie im Gartenhaus (GiG), Munich
2015	Reconstructed Minds	Skipwiths, London
2014	Chinese Whispers	Gallerie Nasty Alice, Eindhoven
2014	DrAwn 2gether	Gig (Galerie I'm Gartenhaus), Munich
2014	Summer Exhibition	The Royal Academy of Arts, London
2013	Summer Exhibition	The Royal Academy of Arts, London
2012	Polemically Small	Orleans House Gallery, London
2012	Etchings	The Café Gallery, The Royal Academy of Arts, London
2009	New London School	Galerie Schuster, Berlin
2008	The Past is History (part 2)	Changing Role Gallery, Rome
2008	The Past is History (part 1)	Changing Role Gallery, Naples
2008	New London School	Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica
2007	THE FUTURE CAN WAIT	Atlantis Gallery, London
2007	Salon Nouveau	Engholm Engelhorn Galerie, Vienna
2006	New London Kicks	Wooster Projects, New York
2006	John Moores 24	The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2006	The Celest Art Prize	The Truman Brewery, London
2006	New London Kicks	Soho House, New York
AWARDS
2006	Short-listed for John Moores 24
2006	Short-listed for Celeste Art Prize
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2013	The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Show illustrated Catalogue…p.74
2011	Standing Grounded: Heidegger’s The Origin of the Work of Art and Contemporary Painting by Magdelena Wisnowska…p.69 to 89	Aesthetic Pathways (volume 2, number 1)
2011	Dialogues (Richard Moon) p.16	Notion Magazine (Issue no. 50)
2009	Collecting the Contemporary for Tomorrow (interview with Alison Myners) p.6 & 8	AXA Art Review
2009	Exhibitions (review of The Golden Record Exhibition, Lincoln) 21st to 27th March 2009, p.39 2003.	The Guardian Guide
	Art (review of Future Map 02 Exhibition, at the London Institute Gallery, p.55	The Evening Standard Metro Life Magazine
COLLECTIONS
Javier Baz, Denver
Saatchi Gallery, London
Paul and Alison Myners, London
Roger Taylor, London

Press Release

RICHARD MOON

Conundrum

CHARLIE SMITH LONDON @ Gramercy Park Studios

PREVIEW: Wednesday 19 July 2023 17:00-18:00 | RSVP | Please contact direct@charliesmithlondon.com to book | Limited places available

EXHIBITION DATES : Thursday 20 July - Friday 1 September 2023

EXHIBITION HOURS : Monday – Friday 09:00-17:00 by appointment (contact Tracey Gascoyne tracey.gascoyne@hogarth.com to book)

ADDRESS
: Gramercy Park Studios, 25 Great Pulteney Street, Soho, London W1F 9ND

CHARLIE SMITH LONDON is delighted to present Richard Moon’s solo exhibition ‘Conundrum’ in Soho, London.

This exhibition showcases paintings produced over the past few years by Hampshire-based artist Richard Moon. The most recent paintings announce the re-emergence of colour into Moon’s work after a hiatus of nearly ten years in which monochrome predominated. Addressing themes ranging from mythology, history, politics and death, Moon’s interest in these subjects stems from a particular nostalgic preoccupation with loss and longing. Aristocratic porcelain figurines, mythological creatures and clairvoyants all feature in the exhibition, displaying a fascination for bygone eras in which ideals were clearer, and yet superstition was more prevalent.

Whilst looking back to the past, these paintings also look ahead to the future. This is addressed in the Augur series, which references the ancient Roman tradition of interpreting omens from the observed behaviour of birds, or in The Medium, in which a fortune-teller’s hands are shown in the midst of a spiritual ‘reading’. It is also apparent in the paintings of aristocratic porcelain figurines, which simultaneously reference earlier times whilst hinting at the aspirations and hopes we might share in improving our circumstances.

However, in Moon’s paintings, this ‘hope’ can often lead to a feeling of despondency. The broken porcelain figurines and the piles of skulls in some of the Augur paintings suggest things don’t always turn out the way we would want them to. In Greek mythology, when Pandora opened her box and released all of the evils of the world, only ‘hope’ was left behind. This has prompted scholars to question whether ‘hope’ was regarded by the Greeks as just another evil, whose purpose was simply to prolong our torment, or if it could be considered as something positive in a world full of suffering.

In this sense, ‘hope’ in Pandora’s box is not unlike that of nostalgia, since both provide pleasure and pain equally. And it is this Janus-faced characteristic that interests Moon most about these concepts; how neither one offers any real comfort, whilst remaining undeniably attractive and appealing. This conflict only adds to the emotional attachment we have with the past, since it leaves one always wanting (or ‘hoping’) for more. It is this aspect that drives Moon’s work, both in his approach to picture making and in the response he hopes to engender in the viewer.

The event will take place at CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, Gramercy Park Studios, 25 Great Pulteney Street, Soho, London W1F 9ND. Viewings by appointment only during office hours. Please contact tracey.gascoyne@hogarth.com to book. For further information please contact direct@charliesmithlondon.com. Follow us @CHARLIESMITHIdn

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