GALLERIES

David Moore: Vibes
At: osp gallery, 450 Harrison Ave., through Feb. 26. www.ospgallery.com

Moore goes outside the lines in contemplative 'Vibes'

By Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent | February 4, 2005

David Moore's paintings have always been downpours of color, precise verticals so deeply layered that the momentum of the straight, downward line envelops and imprints itself on the viewer. His lovely gouache drawings at osp gallery sometimes attain that density, but they also open up and breathe.

Moore has added a new element: Here and there, the lines belly out, softly crossing over their more erect companions. In places like these, where the artist appears to stray from perfection into mistake, his drawings pull you in: The gouache cuts away at the top and bottom of certain black bands, for instance, like ribbons twisting in a breeze, and your eye dwells there.

The exhibit proceeds from spare to dense. ''Freedom Vibe No. 10," a spectacle of subtlety, kicks it off. Using the creamy watercolor paper as a ground, Moore drew dozens of pale, slender lines, none wider than a quarter of an inch. A handful of black lines act as magnets, around which other streaks cluster, but most of the tones here are akin to white, blushed with blue or yellow or peach. Every now and then, graceful white arcs cut over the curtain of verticals, barely visible as they billow.

''Vibes" is the right title for this show. The paintings set off retinal vibrations with their juxtapositions of color; they also read like music, mixing areas of dense, bright orchestration with softer, more contemplative passages. The curved lines and cut-off bands of color add an improvisational element, without bandstanding. It's like the difference between sliding up a fret on the guitar and stepping up a fret -- small touches that make the work more sensual and more intimate.

''Freedom Vibe No. 8" amps up the accumulation of line and tone around the black bands: Purple and fuchsia ring out exultantly; in between, the drawing subsides into softer tones. The last work in the show, ''Freedom Vibe No. 12," approaches the density of one of Moore's paintings. The curving lines nearly get lost in the hailstorm of verticals -- but not quite. They show up in small openings, like rapturous inhalations during an interlude in the fireworks. .

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Boston Globe Review "Vibes"

GALLERIES

David Moore: Vibes
At: osp gallery, 450 Harrison Ave., through Feb. 26. www.ospgallery.com

Moore goes outside the lines in contemplative 'Vibes'

By Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent | February 4, 2005

David Moore's paintings have always been downpours of color, precise verticals so deeply layered that the momentum of the straight, downward line envelops and imprints itself on the viewer. His lovely gouache drawings at osp gallery sometimes attain that density, but they also open up and breathe.

Moore has added a new element: Here and there, the lines belly out, softly crossing over their more erect companions. In places like these, where the artist appears to stray from perfection into mistake, his drawings pull you in: The gouache cuts away at the top and bottom of certain black bands, for instance, like ribbons twisting in a breeze, and your eye dwells there.

The exhibit proceeds from spare to dense. ''Freedom Vibe No. 10," a spectacle of subtlety, kicks it off. Using the creamy watercolor paper as a ground, Moore drew dozens of pale, slender lines, none wider than a quarter of an inch. A handful of black lines act as magnets, around which other streaks cluster, but most of the tones here are akin to white, blushed with blue or yellow or peach. Every now and then, graceful white arcs cut over the curtain of verticals, barely visible as they billow.

''Vibes" is the right title for this show. The paintings set off retinal vibrations with their juxtapositions of color; they also read like music, mixing areas of dense, bright orchestration with softer, more contemplative passages. The curved lines and cut-off bands of color add an improvisational element, without bandstanding. It's like the difference between sliding up a fret on the guitar and stepping up a fret -- small touches that make the work more sensual and more intimate.

''Freedom Vibe No. 8" amps up the accumulation of line and tone around the black bands: Purple and fuchsia ring out exultantly; in between, the drawing subsides into softer tones. The last work in the show, ''Freedom Vibe No. 12," approaches the density of one of Moore's paintings. The curving lines nearly get lost in the hailstorm of verticals -- but not quite. They show up in small openings, like rapturous inhalations during an interlude in the fireworks. .