GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Another Michigan artist is to be featured at the Grand Rapids Art Museum's (GRAM) as part of an ongoing series.
Mario Moore is the next artist in the museum's Michigan Artist Series with his exhibit Mario Moore: Revolutionary Times, on view from April 27 through Aug. 18.
The Detroit-based artist's exhibit includes large-scale paintings, silverpoint drawings and works on paper. The exhibit "bridges America’s past and present and illuminates stories buried or ignored in Americans’ collective understanding of history," the art museum wrote.
“It has been an honor to work with Mario Moore on this exhibition and to witness his incredible talent and creativity. His highly realistic paintings radiate with warmth and life. They also prompt viewers to consider our country’s past and what legacies we’ve inherited from it,” commented GRAM Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Jennifer Wcisel.
The exhibit is a collection of three art series by Moore: A New Republic, Midnight and Canaan, and A New Frontier. The combination of the different series looks at America's past and present.
“Many of the subjects in this exhibition are family and friends who Moore has painted as revolutionary historic figures, like Lucie and Thornton Blackburn who fled to Detroit to escape enslavement in the 1830s. These paintings deftly collapse the past and present and bring the viewer into these important histories," Wcisel added.
Moore revisits Black Union soldiers during the Civil War in A New Republic, he explores Black people in Detroit, their contributions to the city and efforts to escape slavery in Midnight and Canaan and he uncovers the parallel between Detroit's fur trade and the slave trade in A New Fronteir.
“I am really excited about these bodies of work in Revolutionary Times, especially considering the state of the world and America,” commented Mario Moore. “For me, this work at the Grand Rapids Art Museum asks the public to consider Michigan’s important place in American history and in turn, the current times that we face as a nation.”
The GRAM has also added Moore's bronze sculpture, "Love," to their permanent collection. The sculpture is a portrait of Moore's wife Danielle.
You can view a virtual preview and learn more about the exhibit here.
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