This February Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia will host concurrent solo shows for Jeffrey Reed and Kurt Moyer. Both artists are inspired by the natural world, but their interpretations and imagery are uniquely their own.

Reed’s show will include around two dozen paintings that were completed over the last two years. A little more than half of the works are from his 2021 fellowship/residency at Ballinglen Arts Foundation in County Mayo, Ireland. The other landscapes were painted near his home in Philadelphia, with the exception of Mystic Garden, which was developed from direct observation in Mystic, Connecticut, and then finished in the studio. For the first time Reed will be exhibiting small gouaches that he painted on location in Ireland.Jeffrey Reed, Mystic Garden, oil on canvas, 12 x 12"Reed says, “There is a personal and emotional connection that I experience in the landscape and the act of being in the landscape, looking closely and painting, intensifies this experience. Light and space have been my primary interests for years and they continue to be unifying factors for me in my work. What I value most in my painting experience, comes from direct observation, meaning painting on location. Over the past few years, I have been able to translate some of these experiences to work in the studio. It is an evolving process for me.”

Convent/Evening, one of the works depicting a place located near the artist’s home, was done completely on location in one evening. It’s a process that, he says, “allows me to work more intuitively and has introduced me to new and unexpected possibilities of colors, forms and light.”Kurt Moyer, Hanging Garden, oil on canvas, 60 x 60"

For 20 years Moyer has been exhibiting representational landscapes, but his new show is his first of abstractions. “My goal in painting has not changed, it has always been to create something beautiful out of my personal experiences,” says Moyer. “Now, instead of starting with the subject and its forms, I am starting with my memories and working with a set of colors that represent those experiences. I hope that by letting these colors dictate form and space that I can create a painting which feels like nature without literally depicting nature.”Jeffrey Reed, Convent/Evening, oil on canvas, 10 x 10"

These abstracted works are about the experience of the place. They recall a time and place as well as the senses of touch, taste, sound and smell. The artwork in his shows is titled to give the viewer a hint of the abstracted scene, while still being open to interpretation. Kurt Moyer, Arriving at Matilda’s, oil on linen, 70 x 80"

“The title Hanging Garden comes from the vertical tendrils of color that appear to hang as if they were on a trellis, but it also has associations for me of the first colors of spring,” Moyer shares. “Arriving at Matilda’s was inspired by a wonderfully rich experience that I had with my wife, daughter and some of our friends in Umbria a few years ago. We rented a house from a woman named Matilda that was located in the most beautiful Arcadian landscape. Every memory I have of this place is very sensually rich and remembering it now still fills me with a feeling of longing and love.”

The two shows run February 2 through 26, with a joint opening reception February 5 from 1 to 4 p.m. —

Gross McCleaf Gallery  
127 S. 16th Street • Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 665-8138 • www.grossmccleaf.com 

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