Monmouth Museum presents Florence Moonan: Variations

Monmouth Museum’s NJ Emerging Artists Series presents Florence Moonan March 23 - April 22, 2018

Variations: Abstract Explorations in Venetian Plaster

“If I can’t sing it, I will paint it,” said Florence Moonan, featured in the next Monmouth Museum New Jersey Emerging Artists Series. She is a New Jersey based artist who is passionate about painting and music. Her exhibition is titled, Variations: Abstract Explorations in Venetian Plaster and will open on March 23, 2018 with a reception from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM in the Nilson Gallery at the Museum. Moonan’s Gallery Talk will be held on April 11th from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM. Both the opening reception and gallery talk are free and open to the public.

Moonan began taking art courses while working full-time at The College of New Jersey. In 2002, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts summa cum laude from TCNJ. “I had a remarkable teacher for a painting class. She taught me how to express my inner thoughts and emotions through color and texture. It was a revelation and I began working in an abstract manner using acrylic paints and mixed media.” Moonan has an intuitive approach to painting and is influenced by the colorful memories of performing in summer stock theater, her family, the natural world and experiences from her travels, but above all, music, especially Broadway musicals and opera.

Today, Moonan is known for colorful abstract Venetian plaster paintings. Through this medium she has learned to create bold new ways of mark making using metal scrapers and various tools that produce a tactile texture that is as smooth as a stone tossed by the sea. Her paintings evoke a range of moods from playful to mysterious.

Several works in her solo exhibition Variations: Abstract Explorations in Venetian Plaster celebrate the memory of her youngest sister, and a few cherished days spent with her sisters on Orcas Island of the San Juan Islands in Washington State. “The plaster’s special qualities help me render surfaces that are to me immediately appealing and sensuous, much like a beautiful aria. I am hoping each work in this exhibition will also strike a chord with the viewer.”

Her paintings have been selected for numerous juried shows, invitational, and group exhibitions throughout the United States including: The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ; Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ; Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD; Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY, and GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, (First Prize Award), Reading, Pennsylvania.

Since 2007 the Monmouth Museum has presented the work of NJ emerging artists through its popular series, The New Jersey Emerging Artists Series. The Series consists of six annual monthly solo exhibitions to showcase the new work of NJ artists who have not previously held one-person exhibitions in our State. The Nilson Gallery in the Monmouth Museum provides a unique and exciting opportunity for these artists to exhibit their work. Selected artists are guided through the exhibition process, provided promotional materials and give an Artist’s Talk during their exhibition, offering the public insight into their artistic process. All opening receptions & Gallery Talks are free and open to the public. The artists selected for this Series represent the diversity of talent in the State and demonstrate creativity in a wide variety of media.

The Monmouth Museum, founded in 1963 as a Museum of Ideas, presents changing art, history and science exhibitions to educate and entertain while providing a destination for creative expression and life-long learning to the diverse community it serves.

For more information about the Monmouth Museum exhibits and programs their website is www.monmouthmuseum.org or call 732-747-2266. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.