Muldoon Elder is a painter, poet, film maker, and writer who lives and works in San Francisco.
His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries throughout the United States. He founded The Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco (1962) and was primarily responsible for developing the careers of many little-known artists including M.C. Escher and Yozo Hamaguchi.
Elder’s documentary films have garnered thirteen international movie awards including an Academy Award in 1969 for “Best Live-Action Short” and First Place at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970 for “The Magic Machines”.
As an artist. Muldoon Elder has been able to move back and forth between two very different genres, the Geometrical style and Abstract Expressionism. This exhibition presents works from 1959 through 2012.
Both styles, though different, do bring some of the same strengths.
Looking closely at the geometric paintings “Anna Bolena” and “King Henry VIII”, you will see the vibrancy of colors that bring life to the subject matter. It is so striking that you are drawn into the paintings and are forced to look at the explosion of color as well as the piece as a whole.
King Henry VIII
As you move through the gallery, you will move from one genre to another past a transitional wall that includes pieces that will move your eye from one style to the other, a bridge from one to the other. In particular, please take the time to really look at “A Tribute To Doctor Watson”. This piece is far more complex than you would see at first glance.
Muldoon Elder’s use of color and texture in his Abstract Expression canvases exudes an explosive yet subtle translucent beauty that is almost spiritual, a firmament. You can’t help but to be drawn into the painting even to the point of moving up to the canvas to see and be part of the piece. As you gain insight, you move away and see the overall beauty of the painting and how it changes.
Azulao
Again, regardless of which genre you view, it is a must to become part of the piece and view the art “up close and personal”. Then as you draw back, the entire work begins to change your focus. It will truly give you a better feel for the art and how both genres come together through the use of vibrant colors, space, depth of vision, and movement.
Muldoon Elder’s paintings bring to mind a feeling of the poetry and music of different times and spaces.