Artists in Shoreditch: Interview with Chris Moon

Chris Moon has recently taken things up a gear -or three. Fresh from the success of his latest exhibition, he’s already making plans to move to LA for the next chapter. Luckily, he recently took an afternoon off to do his laundry (for the first time in six months) and meet me for a coffee at the Hoxton Hotel.

Despite an initial warning that he’s not very good with words ‘see – that’s why I’m a fucking painter’, Moon speaks eagerly – betraying an air of ambition that is ever so slightly in-congruent to his otherwise laid back, ‘fuck it’, attitude.

Reverie, Moon’s acclaimed exhibition at the London newcastle project space, has been well received and given Moon what may seem, on first glance, like an overnight success. It’s not quite that simple.

Moon has only recently begun to show work again after over a decade of shying away from exhibiting, and his current fervour may have something to do with the excitement of feeling ready to show again. ‘I’ve realised now that what I do is my life, so when I’m not doing it, I don’t know what to do. I just slide into depression, sitting watching bargain hunt.’

Using his most recent exhibition to tell the story of his career to date and also as a platform for imagining what comes next, he explains ‘for me it wasn’t just doing a show, it was getting a structure for later shows as well. I kind of wanted to do this more diverse show – more of a showcase than an exhibition. I wanted a basis of a show that kind of highlighted what I was as a painter, and as an artist.’

An opportunist by nature, Moon began his career (after a disillusioning foundation course) travelling the world, staying rent-free in hostels in return for painting them. This journey, and the one that tells the story of his career to date, is reminiscent of his entire attitude to his work– there is no end goal, just growth, change, and a wariness of staying still too long.

‘I’ve got a fear of repetition. Financially, you’ll be fine but fuck it, it’s a bit more punk to just throw everything out.’ Chucking caution to the wind may not come easy to any self-depreciating artist, but for Moon it’s the only way. Years of learning through trial, error and experimentation have left him with a destructive method. As he explains – ‘as long as I hate everything I do, it helps. So that’s it.’

Underlying all this though, there is a subtle air of confidence, and at one point this slips out. Discussing the few pieces that he ‘really believed in’ at his recent show, but that didn’t sell, he notes- ‘they’re going to be the most important ones later.’There – the faint hint of long-sighted aspiration.

So whilst his destructive, ‘artistic induced depression’ may lead him into the dark, if you’ve seen any of his work, you’ll agree that Chris Moon has reason to be optimistic.