Seen in NYC: My Thoughts on Frank Moore @ David Zwirner (525 19th Street) with Lesson Ideas
Frank Moore, Lullaby II, 1997.
Photo by Artful and Educational (at David Zwirner Gallery, 525 19th Street)
Seeing Frank Moore’s Lullaby II at David Zwirner last summer left an indelible mark. It is an ear-worm I can’t get rid of.
This work is, at face value, unlike anything I have ever made. I focus primarily on abstract imagery related to what I see in the natural and constructed environments around NYC and its surrounding areas. That being said, dreamlike, surreal and even absurd painting tends to stop me in my tracks. It arouses curiosity for what is all around us, and what we can invent.
Moore’s surrealist imagery puts me slightly on edge. On the one hand, it gives me a familiar wintertime feeling of being half-awake in my warm bed, 5AM, snow falling outside of my window, the four walls of my room embracing me as if I were inside of an idyllic snowglobe—-safe from the storm. At the same time, polar bears tear through the plush pillows, one even ripping apart a seal’s innards, staining the sheets with blood, like an intrusive, unwanted thought marring the otherwise serene dreamscape.
Similar to how the initial serenity of the scene is ripped apart and sullied upon closer observation, the stylized snowflakes in pristine frontal view, paired with the convincingly realistic pillows and bedsheets once again jolt us into disbelief, or at the very least, force us to negotiate between realistic and dreamlike states. When would we ever see one snowflake with such clarity, perfectly facing us to reveal its full glory, let alone a generous group of them? The snowflakes have the hopeful promise of a greeting card or Christmas ornament. The optics of this painting are impossibly delightful.
This would be a great conversation starter for high school or undergraduate students, and also lends itself well to writing activities such as:
Pre-writing: General Observations and Details Chart
Formal Analysis
Creative Responses
If you show this to your students, send me a message to let me know how it goes.