Between Life & Death

Rating:
Summary: Filled with images of species
Review: Full-page color photos of Frank Moore's paintings are especially strong in Between Life And Death: images of nature drawn from a folk art influence. From cameos of large insects and flowers and diminutive humans to folk art cards and a closeup of book titles, this is filled with images of species and interactions between objects and man.

Rating:
Summary: Breatkthrough work
Review: I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the current art scene, but I was not familiar with Frank Moore's amazing work. I just came from DisneyWorld with my parents and happily discovered a show at the Orlando Art Museum of these beautiful and haunting images. Though on first glance these paintings and drawings seem direct and quite simple, it becomes obvious upon closer inspection that they were actually highly planned and worked out. The balance between science, medicine, and nature itself is beautifully maintained and the introduction of death metaphors seems quite appropriate given the state of our current health-care system. I am truly sorry to hear of the loss of this supremely gifted artist but glad to have stumbled upon this beautifully done work and book about it.

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener
Review: This beautiful book is a lovely elegy to an artist who, sadly, we lost to AIDS earlier this year. Though the pages don't quite do justice to the art itself, you can see the pieces themselves, for a short time only, at Buffalo's Albright-Knox Museum through the spring of 2003. If you can't experience the art, this sumptuously produced book, using his farm in western New York as an inspiration, is nearly as good. My prediction is that Frank Moore's star will be in the ascendant for many years to come. Though he is no longer with us, his talent and joy of surprise will delight us for many years to come. And isn't that what art's about after all?