Gallery Artists: Barbara Moody

Moody’s drawings suggest intricate piles of animal fur and other debris which has been swept into large stacks. The accumulation of layered rubble records the history of an unknown, perhaps traumatic, event. Her use of large scale paper and the carefully executed, labor-intensive patterns and textures in the piles provide a contrast to the “disposable” content of the objects in the heap. As viewers examine the intricate layers of ambiguous refuse, they unconsciously try to detect what might be “valuable” amidst the “trash.”

The artist is attracted to piles of all sorts--dirt, garbage, clothes, demolition sites, and dust. Ultimately, her drawings raise questions about our society’s accumulation of “stuff.” What is useful and what is useless? How should we sort it? What is worth saving, and why?

Barbara Moody earned an Ed.D. and a M.Ed. from Harvard University, as well as a BFA from Syracuse University. She is a full-time professor at Montserrat College of Art, where she also served as Vice President and Dean for nine years. Barbara’s work was recently included in Going Ape: Confronting Animals in Contemporary Art at the DeCordova Museum, In and Out at the Pepper Gallery in Boston, and Painting’s Edge at the Riverside Art Museum (CA). Her most recent solo show opened at the Kingston Gallery in October, 2007.. Barbara received a Massachusetts Cultural Council finalist grant in drawing for 2004. See www.barbaramoody.com for more information.

Title: Two Piles
Media: charcoal on paper
Size: 30" x 44"

Title: Smoking
Media: charcoal on paper
Size: 30" x 44"

Title: Debris
Media: charcoal on paper
Size: 30" x 44"

Title: Brocade
Media: charcoal on paper
Size: 30" x 44"

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