For many years artist Larry Moore was a regular, award-winning fixture on the plein air circuit, but in 2015 he found himself growing weary. “I came to this conclusion that these are fun events but not exactly me…I felt like I could tap into things that are more meaningful to me and say something more personal.”

George Hill, Undaunted, oil on canvas, 48 x 36" 

He also missed the storytelling element of working as an illustrator so he started looking for narratives. 

He was painting in an old, abandoned dry cleaners when the idea struck him. “It looked like people had just vaporized…all of their things were left behind. That’s when the animals and spaces came in,” says Moore, an ardent environmentalist. “I started asking myself, ‘What would happen if we humans just went away and animals started to reclaim their rightful place?’”

It led to his Intrusionseries in which a rhinoceros might appear on a subway train or a gorilla family has taken up residence in a refined home. There are deeper narratives, correlations and clever commentary at play but they’re more for Moore’s personal satisfaction. “The stories oftentimes became allegories or metaphors for me but people write their own story and buy them for own reasons—they don’t have to get my message.”

George Hill, Resolute, oil on panel, 40 x 40" 

His Migration series, works from which will be on display in an upcoming joint show with George Hill at Gallery Wild in Jackson, Wyoming, is more playful in tone. The pieces allow Moore to draw from his graphic design background and combine representational elements with his affinity for the abstract.

“I teach principles of abstraction because of my design background,” Moore explains. “I’ve always seen it as two lines of thought—there were my Intrusions and then there was my non-objective painting. One day I thought, ‘What if I tried to merge the two?’”

To achieve this, Moore creates abstract, multi-media vignettes often using acrylic and collage on wood for the base, seals it and then paints his subject, a favorite being birds, on top in oil.

He claims that “these are just fun; there’s no story,” but the snippets of emphemera such as maps or musical notes he incorporates are suggestive of a narrative. “It’s animals in abstract spaces,” he continues. “A lot of artists paint wildlife in gestural, non-specific spaces. Mine are more formalized and I’m using more graphic components but it’s essentially the same thing.”

Larry Moore, Icing on the Cake, mixed media on wood, 20 x 16" 

Artist George Hill also utilizes abstracted backgrounds to increase the impact of his wildlife subject matter. “I wanted to take the animal out of that more traditional, naturalistic setting and zoom in on it,” says Hill. “Too much information in the background can detract from the subject.”

He arranges his compositions in a manner reminiscent of 18th- and 19th-century aristocratic portraiture. An avid outdoorsman who is passionate about protecting wild spaces, by framing wildlife in this elevated way, he means to highlight their regalness and inspire reverence, respect and appreciation in the viewer.

Hill also paints completely non-objective works and he treats the backgrounds of his representational pieces as such. “A lot of abstract paintings are solid blocks of color,” says Hill. “I’m taking the silhouette of that animal and putting it against the negative space. They’re both on the same canvas but they’re separate. The solid background and figure in isolation are both two strong shapes. The more I paint and the more I look at art, if you distill it down or step back and blur your eyes a bit, you start to look at things more compositionally. What makes a good painting? There is some harmony and arrangement of shapes and tonal structures that are more aesthetically pleasing to the human eye.”

Larry Moore, Bright Size Life, mixed media on wood, 36 x 36" 

Hill lives in Montana and is keeping a close eye on the ever-growing interface between urban and rural, civilization and wilderness, and their implications, and hopes that in some small way his art can raise awareness. 

“I’m hoping we will be cognizant and mindful of that dynamic and duality,” Hill says. “Part of the reason I’m creating these paintings is to make humans stop and look at these animals, and give them the reverence and appreciation they deserve. We really gain a lot from our wilderness areas—especially in this day and age. It helps us connect to our more primitive selves, which we’re moving further and further away from all the time.”

Interfaces opens August 25 with an artist reception from 4 to 7 p.m. and remains on view through September 3. —

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