Marianne Boesky Gallery is pleased to present an installation of new paintings by Donald Moffett.
In this new body of work, collectively titled HIPPIE SHIT, Moffett continues to force the collision of abstract painting and social content. Through his titles, installations, use of sound, and the form of the paintings themselves, Moffett’s art invokes a subtle complex of references, which touch on the deepest cultural impulses. In this show, the works are presented in bright claustrophobic conditions—hung low to the ground in a tight row and lit with cold fluorescent light. There is music. Here, the decorum normally associated with installing paintings is conspicuously altered as Moffett’s practice resists the limitations that have historically defined a painting and its presentation.
The room’s controlled conditions mimic a familiar retail environment —a surrogate consumer reality, anonymous and impersonal. In this site, the paintings can be seen to literally “stand in” for objects. They both image and embody these forms. With their variations on standardized forms, their cool silvery surfaces reflect out a chilly emptiness.
The performers of the three songs for three harmonicas are Marcus Milius, Bob Conte and Gayle Brown. The songs are: “What’s Going On?” (1971), lyrics by Marvin Gaye, Al Clevland, Renaldo Benson; “For What It’s Worth” (1967), Lyrics by Stephen Stills; and “What’s so Funny ‘bout Peace, Love and Understanding?” (1974), lyrics by Nick Lowe.
