Carrie Moyer's 'Canonical' Exhibition at Canada Gallery Explores Feminist Abstraction

Carrie Moyer's exhibition 'Canonical' at Canada Gallery in New York City ran from September 14 to October 16, 2011. The show featured new paintings that continued her exploration of political and social themes through a layered graphic aesthetic. Works like 'Rock Candy Chrysalis' employed a black-winged lattice framing coral-colored forms, showing influences from Pattern and Decoration artists such as Robert Kushner. The six-foot square painting 'Frilly Dollup' displayed ten layers of imagery with biomorphic forms, referencing Picasso's 1930s bathers, Miró, Arp, Richard Lindner, and Elizabeth Murray. Moyer's method involved pouring, staining, and charcoal lines to create a sense of natural phenomena. 'The Tiger's Wife' intertwined psychological landscape with bodily forms, using a softer color palette and transparent layers. The exhibition highlighted Moyer's engagement with feminist art history, nodding to predecessors like Carolee Schneeman, Lee Bontecou, and Elizabeth Murray. Her work avoided overt references to justify abstraction, instead focusing on color, beauty, and experiential knowledge. The gallery was located at 55 Chrystie Street between Hester and Canal in New York City.