I have been following self-taught artist b. Robert Moore for a few years now. A couple of weeks ago, I ran into him at the grocery store with wet paint on his clothing and dirty hands just out getting a late-night gallon of milk. His collaboration with Esteban Whiteside, the “AMERIKKKAN MONOPOLY GAME” series made waves last summer, and ever since, this man’s work has continued to elevate to another universe. This show, a solo retrospective of his work titled ‘Field of Dreams: Out the Mud’ is one of the most raw, honest, and beautiful shows I have ever seen.
From the striking imagery of Black men and boys to the beautiful detail in each and every work, as well as the at the same time short, sweet, humorous, and gut-punching descriptions — often consisting of both bible verse and Tupac lyrics — of each work that shines a light on what growing up as a Black man in America feels like.
To see this work on Instagram is one thing, but to see these in person was an entirely different experience. Keep your eyes on this space, b. Robert Moore will continue to be doing big, incredible, game-changing things.
For this retrospective, Field of Dreams: Out the Mud (Retrospective), its showing is moved from L.A. to The Heartland, where b. Robert Moore grew up and still resides and works. He is bringing home his experiences—a first of many ‘coming full circles’, so to speak. In describing this exhibit, which originally had the subtitle, A Black American Rite of Passage, Moore says, “For many Black Americans, we have no direct understanding of our traditional African tribe’s rite of passage. Our only Rite of Passage is what we have inherited by being born descendants of African slaves here in America. For many, birth and childhood are traumatic, coming of age is a form of warfare (if we even survive). We are conditioned to not understand marital structure. We experience religious confusion through manipulation, death, and more, with the hope that our Coming of Age, our Rite of Passage, is to make it past the age of 25 … If we do, some of us may even thrive. We may even find a smile. We may recreate. We may be the rose that grew from concrete. Out The Mud.”
Moberg Gallery
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