Mario Moore's Revolutionary Times Exhibit
While on a trip to Grand Rapids, I visited the Grand Rapids Art Museum and saw an amazing exhibit by the Michigan artist Mario Moore, titled Revolutionary Times. The exhibition displayed three series of works by Moore, including large-scale portraits, drawings, and a short film. Before going on my trip, I was researching what was on display at the GRAM when I saw his portraits. I was in awe of their realism and vibrant color, which made me look into his art some more. After reading about what his exhibition was about, I knew I had to go see them in person on my trip. The experience ended up being very inspiring to me both creatively and personally.
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Honor: Harriet Tubman (Danielle)
2021, Oil on Panel, 12 x 9 inches |
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Honor: Enoch Long (Demond)
2021, Oil on Panel, 12 x 9 inches
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Even though the large-scale paintings were what I was excited to see most, one of my favorite series in the exhibition was his smaller portraits in
A New Republic. This series consisted of multiple portraits of his friends and family members put into the setting of the American Civil War. Each person is represented as their modern self, dressed in casual streetwear and looking like the average acquaintance. Their setting and the weapons they pose with are juxtaposed to this, which dates them back to the 1800s during the Civil War. They hold muskets in the middle of green fields while canons fire behind them, posing silently and stoically as Union soldiers would. I learned there that what inspired Moore to make this series was his discovery of a great-uncle who was enslaved as a child and later served in the Union Army. By including his great-uncle and his other friends and family in this context, he seems to raise the point that Black people today continue to be fighting the modern war of racism in America. It also brings up the complex feelings surrounding former slaves fighting for freedom in a country that never treated them as individuals with rights. Moore honors these brave and hopeful soldiers by putting the people he loves in their place, even naming the pieces after them and what historical figures they represent.
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| Pillars of the Frontier, 2024, Oil on linen, 84 x 96 inches |
Another beautiful piece I couldn't stop staring at was one of his largest paintings,
Pillars of the Frontier. Once again, Moore is connecting past events with future subjects by representing all of the important women in his life together in luxury clothing and calling them the pillars of the frontier today. His wife stands in the middle, surrounded by his mother, sister, and two grandmothers. Their poses and expressions appear strong, beautiful, and independent, all sentiments Moore probably sees in these women daily. Moore is trying to express the idea that these women who have carried on their ancestry in Detroit stand as the modern frontiers of the political and racial divide today. The fur they wear also holds a lot of symbolism, recalling the French fur trade industry important to Detroit hundreds of years ago. Enslaved Black people and Native Americans would help transport furs to white men, a grueling and laborious task. Today, Moore notices that fur has become a fashion trend in Detroit and depicts his subjects in fur to interweave the past with the present once more. The women also glow in warm, rich colors, standing out from the background and emitting a loving yet striking feeling to me.
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| During and After the Battle, 2020, Oil on linen, 68 x 80 inches |
Finally, I'd like to talk about the painting
During and After the Battle. This piece feels like the masterpiece of the entire exhibit because it describes the overarching meanings all of the pieces share: the past isn't that far from the present, Black people remain political frontiers, and history still remains in present-day culture and people. The subject of the piece is contemporary artist Mark Thomas Gibson, who lounges in his studio with his dog in front of a historical painting of the Battle of Antietam. I read in the exhibit that the Battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War, but the Union Army won and it sparked the Emancipation Proclamation. In the historical painting behind Gibson, a man sits with his head blown off in front of a chaotic combat scene. Gibson sitting below the soldier parallels his position and relates the past battle to the freedoms Gibson has today. Union Soldiers died gruesome deaths for the freedom Gibson experiences today, being able to own a studio and make a living from his artistry. Moore was able to capture Gibson's relaxed expression and pose so well, that it is eerie to look up slightly and feel the opposite emotions in the rigid position of the dead soldier.
Getting to see Mario Moore's exhibition was much more moving than I expected. Seeing the scale and colors of the pieces in real life was incredible after only seeing them from a screen. It made me appreciate the skill level of Moore to create such expressive and realistic portraits at that size. Although I researched his pieces beforehand, getting to walk through the entire exhibit and learn more about each piece within the context made it that much more powerful to see in person. I learned a lot about historical figures and stories from the Civil War I would not have known before exploring Moore's artwork, and I'm grateful for the experience he gave me in this exhibition.
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