Sam Moyer

(born in Chicago in 1983; lives and works in Brooklyn, New York)
The Banks, 2015, marble and dyed canvas mounted on MDF panel, 236.2 x 185.4 x 1.9 cm
Provenance:
Rodolphe Janssen Gallery, Brussels (label on the reverse; a certificate of provenance, signed by the artist, is available)
European Corporate Collection (acquired from the above)

Sam Moyer has developed a distinctive language of abstraction at the intersection of painting and sculpture, working with reclaimed marble and stone. In these works, dyed canvas is set in relation to the natural tones of the materials she embeds.
Her approach developed from early experiments with dyed canvases, made by dragging long lengths of fabric through the landscape and leaving them exposed to light, soil, and time. The fabric began to show veining, stains, and uneven tonal shifts which, as she noted in an interview with the The New York Times, led viewers to associate these works with marble. This perception led her to the idea of “putting the marble in the painting.”
The marble in the present work is not polished or uniform, but marked by scratches and variations in color. These qualities draw attention to the surface and reinforce the material presence of the work. Positioned between painting and sculpture, it reveals its construction, bringing image and material into direct relation.

Her work is held in the collections of major institutions including the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Pizzuti Collection, Columbus Museum of Art, The UBS Collection, New York and the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, amongst others.