Michael Mooser

Monad

Print on canvas

"I worked with this image, the circle and sphere, (in different versions) for seven years in many ways and styles. One day I found out it was a Native American image, and it stunned me because I grew up on the edge of a burial ground in Kentucky. I realized I have thought about this type of symbol for my entire life. When I came across this image used for the Supreme Being, I realized it had been incorporated for years into a lot of my work without knowing the connection."

– Michael Mooser

About the artist

Michael Mooser

I have been an artist all of my life, working in painting, prints, drawing, mixed media, photography, film, multimedia environments, and more. In 1977, I was invited to participate in The New Theater Festival TNT77. There I met Squat Theater and they saw my multimedia environment work and asked me to come to NYC with them. I moved there after the festival and worked building sets, working out ideas and then storyboarded, shot, edited, 90% of Andy Warhol's Last Love for the play of the same name by them. The NY Times said we were the #1 Avant Garde group. In fact, we were the only real avant-garde group in NYC. We were a creative center with Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Lurie, Richard Hambleton, Jim Jarmusch, and many more as they blossomed and grew their work. That film was shown several times at the Whitney and weekly at The Kitchen for a while.

I went on to learn more and went into digital technology, 3-D animation, eventually doing a large installation inside the Brooklyn Bridge for the Pew Trust in '89. I spent the next 32 years of my life developing music, multimedia, and my handwork. I have kept my life focused on aesthetic pursuits.