Artist Statement: Robert Moy
Robert Moy is a renowned balloon artist who transforms ordinary balloons into resin sculptures using a complex process that challenges it as ephemeral, and lightweight, while still retaining essential balloon qualities, but filtered through an ironic prism. The transformation from flimsy party object into solid mass serves to exaggerate the balloon’s varied, interwoven layers of fantasy and escapism—qualities that are central to his artwork.
Kitsch and pop art are clear influences for this low-brow high art, which combines candy-coated surfaces and humorous content snared from consumer culture (Nike and M&Ms logos, for example); assorted juvenilia (quotes from Cinderella and Peter Pan); celebrity catchphrases (such as Paris Hilton’s mis-rendered “Thats Hot! Your Not!”); and other dispatches from globalized culture (graphics from Hello Kitty, a Chinese takeout container, etc.). The fact that anything inscribed on a balloon is inherently funny and Moy’s awareness of this fact are key dynamics in his art; and exaggerates the decontextualism that is a signature of this work. This year Moy was named one of 200 creative visionaries by Louis Vuitton.