Skip to main contentBiographyContemporary photographer Julie Moos (born 1965) specializes in double portraits. Placing her subjects side by side, facing the camera, often set before a neutral background, the artist creates images in which the viewer supplies the missing information. Moos conceives of her work in series, making at the same time several photographic portraits on a particular theme.
Moos is a native of Ottawa, Canada. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University and also studied at the Sorbonne, New York University, and the International Center of Photography. She has lived in New York City, where she is represented by Fredericks Freiser Gallery, and Birmingham, Alabama. In 2004, she moved to Toronto, Ontario, when her husband David Moos was named curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In quick succession between 2002 and 2007, her work was seen in solo exhibitions at the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. She was invited to participate in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and served as artist-in-residence at the Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis, also in 2002. [1]
The artist uses a 4x5-inch camera to make her large-format Cibachrome photographs. Cibachrome is known for its colorfast properties, so the vibrant colors in Moos’s photographs will remain true for years. By using a neutral background, Moos denies the viewer further information that might be helpful in developing context. The only clues to meaning are the subjects’ dress, posture, and expression.
Moos’s first significant series was Friends and Enemies, 1999–2000, which debuted at Fredericks Freiser Gallery and was also exhibited at the Contemporary Museum of Art in Honolulu. Moved by the tragic school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, Moos interviewed students, teachers, and counselors at a private school in Birmingham, Alabama, to discover the relationships between the students. Having ascertained who were friends and who were enemies, she paired them in her photographs, leaving the viewer to determine the nature of their relationship. The result is a keen psychological portrayal of American adolescence.
In 2001, Moos created the Domestic series, which paired domestic servants with their employers. In almost all of the images, the homeowner is white and the employee is African American. Created in Birmingham, Alabama, the series speaks poignantly about continued racial disparity in the South. Moos is keen to point out, however, the sympathetic aspects of the images as well: “These photographs are about relationships and about the personal bond between employer and employee.” [2]
For the Monsanto series from 2001, Moos eschewed her customary neutral background and set her subjects outside. The series depicted pairs of farmers standing in front of lush green fields. As with Friends and Enemies and Domestic, the title of the series gives the images added significance; here, Moos makes clear that the farmers are in fact part of the large agricultural conglomerate Monsanto, best known for producing genetically modified crops. By providing this information, Moos challenges traditional notions about the virtuous farmer, bound to nature and the land. [3]
In 2006, Moos received a commission from Progressive Auto Insurance to photograph some of their customers for the company’s annual report. Employing her customary double-portrait format, Moos paired random strangers in a series that she called, ironically, Loyalty. The title implies that the two subjects are loyal to each other when, in fact, the artist refers instead to their loyalty to the company. The series was exhibited the following year at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.
Using a straightforward format, a nondescript background, and no props, and taking advantage of the bright colors of Cibachrome, Julie Moos creates portraits with powerful narratives and pointed socio-cultural commentary.
Notes:
[1] Biographical information from Fredericks Freiser Gallery, http://www.fredericksfreisergallery.com/artists/moos/index.html
[2] Moos quoted in Larry Rinder, Whitney Biennial Exhibition Catalogue (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2002), 155.
[3] Hamza Walker, Julie Moos: Monsanto Series (Chicago, IL: The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, 2002) http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Essay.Julie-Moos-Monsanto-Series.19.html?printable=1
Julie Moos
born 1965
Moos is a native of Ottawa, Canada. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University and also studied at the Sorbonne, New York University, and the International Center of Photography. She has lived in New York City, where she is represented by Fredericks Freiser Gallery, and Birmingham, Alabama. In 2004, she moved to Toronto, Ontario, when her husband David Moos was named curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In quick succession between 2002 and 2007, her work was seen in solo exhibitions at the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. She was invited to participate in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and served as artist-in-residence at the Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis, also in 2002. [1]
The artist uses a 4x5-inch camera to make her large-format Cibachrome photographs. Cibachrome is known for its colorfast properties, so the vibrant colors in Moos’s photographs will remain true for years. By using a neutral background, Moos denies the viewer further information that might be helpful in developing context. The only clues to meaning are the subjects’ dress, posture, and expression.
Moos’s first significant series was Friends and Enemies, 1999–2000, which debuted at Fredericks Freiser Gallery and was also exhibited at the Contemporary Museum of Art in Honolulu. Moved by the tragic school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, Moos interviewed students, teachers, and counselors at a private school in Birmingham, Alabama, to discover the relationships between the students. Having ascertained who were friends and who were enemies, she paired them in her photographs, leaving the viewer to determine the nature of their relationship. The result is a keen psychological portrayal of American adolescence.
In 2001, Moos created the Domestic series, which paired domestic servants with their employers. In almost all of the images, the homeowner is white and the employee is African American. Created in Birmingham, Alabama, the series speaks poignantly about continued racial disparity in the South. Moos is keen to point out, however, the sympathetic aspects of the images as well: “These photographs are about relationships and about the personal bond between employer and employee.” [2]
For the Monsanto series from 2001, Moos eschewed her customary neutral background and set her subjects outside. The series depicted pairs of farmers standing in front of lush green fields. As with Friends and Enemies and Domestic, the title of the series gives the images added significance; here, Moos makes clear that the farmers are in fact part of the large agricultural conglomerate Monsanto, best known for producing genetically modified crops. By providing this information, Moos challenges traditional notions about the virtuous farmer, bound to nature and the land. [3]
In 2006, Moos received a commission from Progressive Auto Insurance to photograph some of their customers for the company’s annual report. Employing her customary double-portrait format, Moos paired random strangers in a series that she called, ironically, Loyalty. The title implies that the two subjects are loyal to each other when, in fact, the artist refers instead to their loyalty to the company. The series was exhibited the following year at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland.
Using a straightforward format, a nondescript background, and no props, and taking advantage of the bright colors of Cibachrome, Julie Moos creates portraits with powerful narratives and pointed socio-cultural commentary.
Notes:
[1] Biographical information from Fredericks Freiser Gallery, http://www.fredericksfreisergallery.com/artists/moos/index.html
[2] Moos quoted in Larry Rinder, Whitney Biennial Exhibition Catalogue (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2002), 155.
[3] Hamza Walker, Julie Moos: Monsanto Series (Chicago, IL: The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, 2002) http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Essay.Julie-Moos-Monsanto-Series.19.html?printable=1
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