Donald Moffett (born January 20, 1955) is an American painter.

Life and work

Moffett was born in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, where he studied art and biology at Trinity University, earning a BA.“Donald Moffett: On Our New York Watchlist,”
''ArtSlant''. Retrieved Dec. 14, 2012. He lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. As a painter, Moffett extends the traditional two-dimensional frame through non-traditional techniques such as prying open the canvas to paint the backside, perforating or suturing the painting's surface, or loading it with paint forced into extreme textures. At other times, he transposes paintings into screens by incorporating video projections onto the canvas. The subject matter of his paintings—from landscape and nature to politics and history—are poetic, provocative, and at times humorous. Moffett is recognized for his keen artistic critique of the world at large. His influence by classical painters such as

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

and

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is manifest in his blending of the subtle with the outlandish and structural experimentation with social critique. While his artwork provides contemporary views on important topics of our modern-day lives, it is also a meditation on the timeless and universal issues of love, loss, alienation, and death. Moffett is a founding member of

Gran Fury Emerging from ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) in 1988, Gran Fury was an AIDS activist artist collective from New York City consisting of 11 members including: Richard Elovich, Avram Finkelstein, Amy Heard, Tom Kalin, John Lindell, Lo ...

, the artistic arm of the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

activist group

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...

. On May 20, 2011, Gran Fury received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

. Moffett is represented by Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York, and Anthony Meier Fine Arts in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Selected catalogues and publications

*''Strange Ways: Here We Come. Donald Moffett & Felix Gonzalez Torres''. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Fine Arts Gallery (1990). *''The Inward Eye: Transcendence in Contemporary Art''. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum (2002). *''Donald Moffett: What Barbara Jordan Wore''. Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art (2002). *''Image Stream''. Columbus, OH: Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University (2003). *''Festschrift: Selections from a Collection''. Hartford, CT: Leo Press (2008). *''The Judith Rothschild Foundation Catalogue Raisonné''. New York:

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...

(2009). *''Everywhere. Sexual Diversity Policies in Art''. Santiago de Compostela, Spain: Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (2009). *''Donald Moffett: The Extravagant Vein''. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum (2011).http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847837274/ Rizzoli USA/ref> *''Donald Moffett: The Radiant Future, Exhibition Catalogue.'' Columbus, OH: Columbus College of Art and Design (2012).

Exhibitions

*2011-2012: ''The Extravagant Vein,'' mid-career survey exhibition, traveled to

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a not-for-profit institution in the Museum District, Houston, Texas, founded in 1948, dedicated to presenting contemporary art to the public. As a non-collecting museum, it strives to provide a forum for visual ...

;

Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery is a part of Skidmore College and located in Saratoga Springs, New York. Building The Tang, opened in 2000, was designed by architect Antoine Predock. Predock's design includes two major gal ...

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

(

Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

); and

Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and arc ...

Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. *2002: ''Donald Moffett: What Barbara Jordan Wore'',

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary ...

Writings and interviews

*Moffett, Donald. “Sex with Sheila Hicks.” ''Art in America'', Nov. 30, 2012. *Dunkerley Dialogue: Donald Moffett with Mason Stokes. Tang Museum, 2012. *Donald Moffett on This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, March 21, 2012. *"Troy Schulze Chats with Donald Moffett." ''NPR'', Nov. 28, 2011.

Permanent collections

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

, New York; *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York; *

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...

; *

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

; *

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...

Minneapolis, MN Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

; *

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...

. *

Blanton Museum of Art The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (often referred to as the Blanton or the BMA) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest university art museums in the U.S. with 189,340 square feet devoted to temporary exhibitions, permanent col ...

, Austin

References

External links

Donald Moffett at Marianne Boesky Gallery

Donald Moffett at Anthony Meier Fine Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffett, Donald 1955 births Artists from New York City Living people HIV/AIDS activists