On a recent trip to Brazil, Jazz-minh Moore toured a grand opera house in Manaus, a city dominated on all sides by thousands of acres of untouched Amazon rainforest. She was struck by the tension of this tiny satellite of culture holding its ground against all-consuming nature. Back in New York, where humankind dominates and concrete covers most of the land, Ms. Moore retained the image of that innocuous little opera house in the middle of the all-powerful Amazon.
This piece, entitled ‘Nadia’, is one in a series of portraits, in which Moore depicts young women who have chosen the arts as their career. Brazilian Flamboyant flowers flank the opera-house-style framing device Moore uses to divide the space, creating a context of nature and culture reminiscent of her experience in Brazil. The flowers cast a shadow on the portrait as if inhabiting a real space, while relegating the figure to image. This hints at the complex relationship between ‘real’ and ‘image’, or ‘Amazon’ and ‘Opera House’, which informs the identities of many young urban artists.
Jazz-minh Claire Moore is an Oregon-raised artist, currently living in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. This series will be exhibited in Paris, at Miki Miali, in June of this year.
Jazz-minh and Nadia Anderson also make and sell jewelry.
Spring '07
Issue 41
Generation 911-
A Doormat in Search of a Revolution
by Asia Kindred Moore
The Thrill Is Gone-
The Withering of the American Environmental Movement
by Jeffrey St. Clair
The iPhone and the Dharma
by Werner Brandt
Building Our Future NOW
City Repair Project's Village Building Convergence, Natural Building
by Lydia Doleman
Breast Cancer
Statistics, Emotions, Detection Technology
by Ingrid Edstrom
Physicians' Perspective:
Mental Illness & Suicide in Teens: Myths, Facts and Solutions
by Dr. Rick Bayer, MD
Heavy Metal (Part 6):
Mercury Exposure from Your Amalgam Fillings
by Dr. Paul Rubin
Living Inside the Box
by Alicia Swaringen
Molly Ivins' Gift to Us
by Paul Levy
Cost of the Bush Regime's WAR
by Geronimo Tagatac
Marriage, Family, Whatever
by Shannon Floyd
Life Advice
from Catherine Ingram