Art & Object Fall Fair 2024

In the Studio

work and its ingredients, and that includes the dynamic art of her hus band, Eddie Martinez—whose paint ings are situated in the galleries on the opposite side of the museum from Moy er’s—and games, such as the hand carved backgammon boards made of

the artist. “I work on the compositions. This one had 15 or 20 versions. I photo graph it, reassess, readjust, go back into it, and then I have to commit when it feels right. Then the fabricator cuts all the shapes out of wood and then we cover all the wood in canvas and then

appearing in their natural uncut shapes. Adding to the complexity is the light, which Moyer controls by adjust ing the large skylights throughout the day. None of this is really surprising, given that Moyer’s father was a noted gaffer in Hollywood, a factor that she

tinted concrete with marble inlay set out on artist-made wood tables and benches in the museum’s lobby. There’s a lot to think about here. To begin with, the 41-year old artist, who was born in Chicago, moved to L.A. when she was five and then to Mas sachusetts when she was 15 and to New York at 24, is some thing of a hybrid herself. She started out as a compulsive photographer, shooting film when she was 12 years old and then going on to attend the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., where she studied pho tojournalism before switching

acknowledges has contributed to the cinematic quality of her art. Moyer orchestrates it all as if she were a director. Past and present, mood and mem ory, history and the future all interact in her presentations. The land, the built environ ment, and the surrounding art are her stage and props. In the center of the sec ond room sits a huge sculp ture, Bluestone Dependent 4 (2021), consisting of two piec es leaning against each other as if in an embrace—one a tweed-like white form com posed of concrete embedded with stone aggregate, shells, and other fragments of beach

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SEAN KELLY NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES. PHOTO: GARY MAMAY

Sam Moyer, Bluestone Dependent 4 , 2021.

to fine art, and then finally earning an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. Moyer’s “everything” is hinted at in her description of the complicated process that goes into her composi tions, beginning with Fern Friend Grief Growth, which required 275 pieces of stone. “I lay them out on the floor,” says

we cover the canvas in plaster and then we sand the plaster and we paint it and then we have to assemble it all. There’s a lot of engineering and math. And I never really get to see it until it’s up on the wall. It’s never really the same. The dimensions really change on the floor.” All the pieces speak for themselves,

matter, and the other a black Belgian bluestone chunk. Moyer says she sees this work as testimony to “co-depen dence”—the two elements are perfectly balanced but not attached to each other. Surrounding the sculpture are four silver-gelatin prints that, like the stone paintings, are more than they initially

COURTESY SEAN KELLY NY/LA, COLLECTION OF JENNIFER AND KEN TANENBAUM, TORONTO, CANADA; COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND SEAN KELLY NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, PHOTO COURTESY JSP ART PHOTOGRAPHY; BLUM LOS ANGELES LLC, BLUM JAPAN GK, BLUM NEW YORK (3)

Clipping 13 , 2024.

Clipping 4 , 2024.

Clipping 12 , 2024.

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Art&Object | Fall 2024