Mokha Laget
Statement:
By rejecting the traditional frame, my shaped canvases can be read as purely flat abstract works or architectonic spaces. I look for exciting ways to solve problems of 2-D space by creating 3-D ambiguity in which the physical dimension of the object becomes a vehicle for perceptual experience. The implied architecture can evoke doorways or passages. Often, it is the contradictory light sources which open the viewer to infinite perceptual shifts between flow and disruption. This is the geometry I am fascinated by, as a way to subvert reason or, to quote Bridget Riley, to “stimulate the mind’s eye” .
While my work references neo concrete art and numerous art historical investigations, it transcends cultural and physical boundaries in a pure aesthetic experience. The interaction of structure and color is also rooted in the chromatic legacy I inherited as studio assistant to Gene Davis of the Washington Color School, as well as my childhood in the North African desert and my home in New Mexico.
Each painting is developed from a library of ideas that I have collected around the world. They include vernacular architecture, remote landscapes, urban elements and the beauty of random juxtapositions. My early years as a photographer were formative in teaching me how to see those relationships. I build the shaped canvas structure once all elements are in place but color remains an unknown until after numerous tests to achieve the deeply matte consistency with the right tone, hue, contrast and vibration.
Résumé:
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2019 David Richard Gallery, Polychrome Polygons, New York, NY
Brian Gross Fine Art, Spatial Chromatics, San Francisco, CA
2018 Louis Stern Fine Art, Recent Work, Los Angeles, CA
(Catalog essay by Suzanne Muchnic)
Sonja Roesch Gallery, Spatial Luminance, Houston, TX
2017 David Richard Gallery, In Shape, In Color, Santa Fe, NM
(Catalog essays by William Peterson and Nancy Zastudil)
Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France (Oct 2017)
The Colour and the Shape, West Texas A&M University, Amarillo, TX
Matter in time, International Exhibit, Art Academy of Lecce, Italy
2016 Color into Space, Museum of Geometric Art, Dallas, TX
New Beginning: The Shape of Things to Come, Galveston Arts Center, TX
Northern Light, Art in Embassies, Dept of State Commission, Mauritania
Chicago Art Fair, with Landfall Press
2015 Symphony of Color, Peyton Wright Gallery, NM
Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Sonja Roesch Gallery, TX
Salon d’Automne des Arts Contemporains, Petit Palais, Paris, France
2014 Chromatic Constructs, Sonja Roesch Gallery, Houston, TX
IFPDA, Landfall Press, NYC, NY
Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Sonja Roesch, Houston, TX
Santa Fe Art Fair, Landfall Press, NM
Washington Art Matters 1940-1980, Katzen Art Center at AU Museum, DC
Select Fair NYC, UNIT, Chelsea, NYC
2013 The Enduring Modernist Aesthetics in NM, Santa Fe Arts Commission, NM
Color Walk, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
L’Alternative, Salon d’Automne, Petit Palais, Paris, France
2011 Biennale of Art and Literature II, Cairo, Egypt
Salon de Sarria VI, Centro UNESCO de Sarria, Galicia, Spain
Tohoku Relief, Art Sun Shiwory Gallery, Kurashiki, Japan
2010 Crux, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Libre comme l’Art, Salon Espace Champerret, Paris, France
2007 Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art, Florence, Italy
Color Field Remix, DCAH Public Art Commission 8th Street NW, DC
2006 Centre d’Art Contemporain, Chamalières, France
Salon d’Automne, Espace Montreuil, Paris, France
2002 BFA 25, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Sub Rosa, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2000 Codes and Notations, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Salon d’Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, France
1999 More Poetics of Noumenalism, Whelan Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Objects of Desire, David Adamson Gallery, Washington DC
1998 Circumnavigations: Poems of Touch, David Adamson Gallery, WDC
1997 In Print, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC
1995 Gallery Selection, Troyer Fitzpatrick, Lassman
1994 Schemata, Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College, Maryland
1992 Hemicycle Inaugural Exhibit, Corcoran Gallery of Art, WDC
Revered Earth, American University, WDC
1991 Morphologies, Franz Bader Gallery, WDC
Gallery Artists, Gallery K, London, UK
1990 Materia Prima, Galerie Matisse, Institut Francais de Londres, UK
Archéographies, Galerie Métamorphose, Paris, France
Solstice, Provincetown Art Museum, MA
1989 Dream Poetics, The Kunstraum, WDC
Three Americas, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, France
1988 Threads & Labyrinths, Carega Gallery, WDC
1987 Impulse & Reverie, Carega Gallery, WDC
Art of the Matter, BC Space, Laguna Beach, CA
Torn Visions, Window Box Gallery, NYC
Chromatic Inversions, Billman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1986 Handmade Books, West Gallery, Denton, TX
Four Arts, Tallahassee Institute for Contemporary Art
Fiber X, The Arts Center, Iowa City, IA
Del Bello Gallery, Toronto, Canada
1984 The Ritz, NY-DC Collaboration with Gene Davis, DC
InterDada, The 16th Note, San Francisco, CA
1981 Post Lateralism, Jack Rasmussen Gallery, DC
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2019 Artist grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Artist-in-residence, Green Olive Arts, Morocco (forthcoming)
2018 Artist-in-residence, Sam and Adele Golden Foundation, NY
EDUCATION
2004 University of California Hayward, Graduate Study in Museum Studies
1992 CCI, Georgetown University School of Linguistics, Washington DC
Graduate Degrees Interpreting and Translation (E-F-S)
1982 BFA Corcoran School of Art, Washington DC
DEUG Anglo-American Literature and Civilization, University of Caen, France
Undergraduate Studies, Art and Anthropology, Montgomery College, Maryland
BACCALAUREAT, Philosophy, Lycée Francais, NYC, NY
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2015 Pliage, Hand pulled lithograph, ed. 20, Landfall Press, NM
2014 Homage to the Wedge, Hand pulled lithograph, ed. 20, Landfall Press, NM
Blackjack, Hand pulled lithograph, ed. 40, Landfall Press, NM
2013 Tupelo Press Poetry Residency, Truchas, NM
2012 Author, Talking art criticism with Derek Guthrie, THE Magazine/Sept. Santa Fe, NM
2009 Author, Catalog essay, Derek Guthrie at Finlandia University, MI
2008 Performer, WaterWeavingWomen, w/ D. Mazeaud & E. Wiseman, Santa Fe, NM
2004-2012 Art Restoration Specialist, Majuka, LLC, New Mexico
2004-6 Assistant Curator, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe
2003-4 Archival Intern, New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe
1999 Translator (into English) Le Livre de Saphir by G. Sinoué (Amarna Books)
1993 Translator (into French) Buddhism, Wisdom and Faith (Sutra Committee, Canada)
1992-pres International Simultaneous Interpreter- French
1992 Project Coordinator, Contemporary Art Exchange US/Africa
1991 Performer, Resonant Environment, R. Butler, McLean Project for the Arts, VA
Curator, Metaphoric Structures, Strathmore Hall Arts Center, MD
1990 Fine Arts Instructor, Maryland College of Arts & Design
Author, Vision and Revision in DC Art (feature), The New Art Examiner, Feb 1990, p. 30-34.
Curator, Detritus & the Poetics of Noumenalism, Gallery 10, WDC
1989-96 Independent Curator-Contemporary Art Centers & Galleries
1991 Author, Catalog, Metaphoric Structures: Science, Symbols & Matter
1989 Co Chair, The Artists Congress, National Museum of Women in the Arts
CoCurator, Elegies, Tartt Gallery, WDC
Co Chair-Coalition of Washington Artists, WDC
1988 Exhibition Specialist- National Museum of American Art & The National Learning Center
Curator, Permanent Collection Community Center for Creative Non-Violence, WDC
1986-88 PR Director, Gallery 10, District of Columbia
1985-6 Archival Specialist-Artists Estates, Washington DC
1984-91 Theatre: Set Designer, Performer, Stage Director, Washington DC
1981-4 Studio Assistant to Gene Davis, Washington Color School Painter
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Color Into Space , Catalogue, Museum of Geometric and Madi Art, Dallas, TX
Mokha Laget: Color into Space, Sarah Burgos, Dallas Morning News, July 29, 2016
Texas Arts & Culture
Where Magazine TEXAS
Mokha Laget: Color in Space, Artslant.com July 2016
Mokha Laget’s Poetics of Color (feature), TREND MAGAZINE, Summer 2014
Eyesight Alone: Clement Greenberg's Modernism, Caroline A. Jones, (Laget citation)
Washington Art Matters: Art life in the Capital, 1940–1990, Jean Lawlor Cohen, Ed. 2013
Implied Spaces, Michael Abatemarco, Pasatiempo, The NEW MEXICAN, July 5, 2013
Mokha Laget’s Colorful Works, ARTDAILY.COM, 6/6 2013
Art in Review, Douglas Fairfield, The NEW MEXICAN, May 10-16, 2013
Cumulus Skies, Jon Carver, THE Magazine, May, 2013
Mokha Laget: Crux, ARTSLANT.COM, Jan 2011
The X Factor, Rani Molla, Santa Fe REPORTER, Jan 12-18, 2011
Alex Ross, Mokha Laget, THE Magazine, Feb/Mar, 2011
Compelling Exhibition, Harmony Hammond, Journal North Santa Fe, Jan 21, 2011
Top Talent, SANTA FEAN MAGAZINE, June/July 2008
Florence Biennial, Exhibition Catalog, Nov 2007
CBS Sunday Morning, Color Field Street Painting, August 2007
Mokha Laget: Sub Rosa, Diane Armitage, THE Magazine, July 2002
Salon d’Automne, Exhibition Catalog, Paris, France, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010
From a Hilltop to the Scenery of the Mind, Craig Smith, The NEW MEXICAN, April 23, 1999
Maps of the Invisible, Dennis Jarrett, The Santa Fe REPORTER, Vol 25, April 1999
Mokha Laget, by Joe Shannon, ART in AMERICA, June 1998
Mokha Laget: Circumnavigations, JW Mahoney, WASHINGTON REVIEW, Aug/Sept 1998
Schemata, J. Dorsey, THE BALTIMORE SUN, Aug 1994
DC Dreaming, JW Mahoney, ART in AMERICA, Feb 1991
Science & Art, M. Welzenbach, WASHINGTON POST, Oct 6, 1990
The Urge to Merge, Jane Addams Allen, WASHINGTON CITY PAPER, June 8-14,1990
Archéographies: A voyage through Time, R. Zamora, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, June 1990
Conceptual Art in the 90’s, K. Holtzman, CRITICAL MASS Catalog, April 1990
Castoffs at the Center of a Local Aesthetic, A. Thorson, WASHINGTON TIMES, Jan 11, 1990
Emerging Art of the 80’s, Art News, 1988
Collage, Exhibition Catalog, MARYLAND COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN, 1987