February 11 – April 14, 2012

Opening reception: Saturday, February 11, 6-8 pm

Lora Reynolds Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition Tom Molloy: New World. This is the Irish artist's third solo exhibition with the gallery since 2007.

The title piece of the show, New World, is a group of nine different LP sleeves—all from the same recording, Dvořák's New World Symphony—whose text has been painted to blend in with the cover image. As with much of Molloy's work, the gesture of New World is clear but its implications remain enigmatic.

Tom Molloy is interested in the production, distribution, and consumption of imagery dealing with current global affairs. Despite its political content, his work is not didactic. The artist does not push a political agenda of his own, but rather creates a space for the viewer to take (or reevaluate) her own position on global issues that concern us all.

The content can be heavy, but Molloy's aesthetic is seductively quiet. His color palette is often muted, his attention to detail is always exacting, and the ambition of Molloy's production is vertiginous (although easily missed by a casual observer). Molloy prefers understatement to sensationalism. He aims to slow down perception and invite contemplation in an attempt to thwart our tendency to jump to conclusions.

Molloy is wary of portrayals of people and events. Many things—bias, oversimplification, misinterpretation—can contribute to the slippage between an event, its representation, and our understanding of it. With New World, Molloy suggests things are often more complicated than they appear.

Tom Molloy was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1964 and lives and works in France. His work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collection of the Irish Museum of Art (Dublin); Goldman Sachs (London); the National Self-Portrait Collection (Limerick, Ireland); and the Blanton Museum of Art (Austin). He had a solo exhibition at the Aldrich Museum (Ridgefield, Connecticut) in 2010.

Tom Molloy: New World will be on view at Lora Reynolds Gallery through April 14, 2012.