About
Moses Nornberg
Moses Nornberg is a contemporary artist known for his unique and thought-provoking pieces of art. He uses his visual creations to challenge common beliefs and to push his audience to contemplate, to re-evaluate, and to participate in the dialogue his work begs. The work is, by turn, critical and observant—spent bullets paint a picture of an America built on guns, but being torn apart by violence. Gas masks covered in luxury labels question the true cost of the haves and the have-nots. But it is also laudatory and admiring—a 4x4 truck covered with pounding speakers conveys the heartbeat of hip-hop and the way it has changed the landscape of America for the better. Turntables, old LPs, and amplifiers make a case for music as the common ground between the generations.
Moses’ art has been featured in museums across the United States such as the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, The Belger Arts Center, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, and the Pulitzer Foundation. Each time his pieces have received critical acclaim for their ability to spark conversation and inspire change.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Moses was always drawn to the arts and began creating pieces at a young age, molding gouda cheese wax and muscle men toys into tribal sculptures, drawing and printing motherboards and other technology refuse, and collecting multiples of everything from hi-fi equipment to lipstick containers to bits of trash—until his parents basement could hold no more. Moses attended Reed College where he earned a BA in Art, and then California College of the Arts, where he received his MFA.
Moses has been a resident at the Cue Foundation in New York, is an Artadia San Francisco awardee, and was the winner of Great Rivers Biennial Grant.
His works have been shown in the Bruno David Gallery, The Elliot Smith Gallery, and The Robert Berman Gallery.
Moses makes art as a way of investigating and making sense of what is happening in the world around him, and he hopes his viewers will look at his pieces with that same curiosity, scrutiny, and purposeful questioning.
Artistic Style
Moses is a shrewd commentator on politics and society. He distills complicated ideas into images and concepts that are both accessible and poignant. In his series using hi-fi stereo components such as amplifiers and speakers, Moses recycles equipment that has been cast aside into beautiful canvases that tell the story of the American hip-hop scene, and how the “cars that go boom” have shaped the social landscape of America. In his series using bullets, both real and cast, he highlights the long-storied tradition of the US individualists that believe in wielding weapons, but he asks the very pertinent question “at what cost?” Moses visually challenges his viewing public to scrutiinize what they see around them, and to consider what their perspective is on what they see.
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