by SARA FARIZAN

CAMBRIDGE- The Art Institute of Boston at University Hall in Cambridge is proud to present the works of Boston based artist Karen Moss currently on display now until March 19th. Moss’s show What Remains features work from three series Coloring Book Hybrids, Walnut Ink Drawings and The Commuter. In works from all three series, Moss will treat viewers to intriguing, lingering and unusual depictions of everyday life, as we in the western world, know it. With the pieces from Coloring Book Hybrids, Moss takes playful jabs and a deeper look at societal norms with erratic and over the top color schemes, character hybrids and jarring manipulations. The content in her work exhibited from Walnut Ink Drawings are drawn from recent news items and happenings in the print media. These works delve into the deeper meanings behind gender roles, violence and matters of the home while evoking a sense of nostalgia by using a sepia color scheme. Finally we see a mixed media narrative entitled The Commuter with the main protagonist being an art student who manifests into a blue rabbit traveling and assimilating to urban landscapes and rural areas.

Moss has had many solo exhibitions throughout Boston as well as the Leah Levy gallery in San Francisco, the Addison-Ripley Gallery of Washington D.C. and the Kathryn Markel Fine Arts gallery in New York city to name a few. Curator and AIB gallery director Andrew Mroczek said of Moss’s new show “Though comparisons will be made to early moralists and writers of fables, like Grimm and Aesop, Moss’s narratives are a clear departure from traditional fairy tales and storytelling. Less about reflections of the past and ‘lessons learned’, each piece serves as a type of evidence: a direct mirror to societal indiscretions, current events, and the implications of their inevitable result.”

The exhibit will run until March 19th at The Art lnstitute of Boston Gallery at University Hall
1815 Massachusetts Ave., porter square, cambridge, MA, 02144