DFN Gallery is pleased to present our first exhibition with artist James B. Moore, a survey of twenty years of Moore’s commitment to still life as a medium for directly observed reality.  These works embrace physical, intellectual and spiritual elements, creating a unified poetic experience.  “Still” refers to the creation of tranquility by arresting turbulence, as well as the continuation of time and being. 

Moore achieves visual integration through the play of light and shadow, subtle color harmonies, and solid, weighted forms that suggest both simplicity and permanence.  Distinctive personalities and human relationships are implied through object arrangement and attention to detail.  Ripe tomatoes, elegant irises, and clay and copper vessels, all painted actual size, are presented on altar-like tables in suffused northern California light.  The neutral-toned atmospheric space, lightly textured surface, and strong horizontal placement impart a sense of calm.  Ordinary objects become extraordinary, with symbolic and metaphysical connotations that transcend the chaos of contemporary life through their ordered stillness.  The paintings invite quiet contemplation, meditation on the present moment, and suspension of time.  Moore’s objective is “to visually celebrate a conviction that the physical universe is a dramatic confirmation of an aware omnipresence.” 

The material and the spiritual are not in conflict, they are integral… I like solid, simple forms, I like stillness, I like neutral and subtle color.  The act of painting for me is an attempt to confirm and even celebrate the harmonic duality of matter and spirit as an observable and profound event… The material and the spiritual are not in conflict, they are integral.  – James Moore

James Moore was born in Chico, California in 1946.  He received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.  This exhibition marks the twentieth anniversary of his first exhibition in New York.  Moore’s work is included in many public collections including Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Jose Museum of Art and Tacoma Art Museum.  His work is also in numerous distinguished corporate and private collections including Captiva, Exxon, IBM, MBNA America, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, R.J. Reynolds, and Williams‑Sonoma.