Hannah Wilson's Never Cursed at Moosey is an exploration of optimism battling a deep-seated sense of failure, a concept not unheard of in their previous works but confronted here with newfound vigor. I can't help but feel, in the face of the American elections (although of course this show is in the UK, but it permeates), the art economy and the general feeling of malaise that seems to have cast a shadow over so many in 2024, optimsim versus failure is a powerful resolve to showcase in your art. And Hannah has done this. This collection embodies the relentless pursuit of progress and the determination to forge ahead even when destiny appears to conspire against you.
A few months back in our FALL 2024 Quarterly, Wilson told us, "I look at characters who are very internal, with lots bubbling under the surface, and there’ll be a moment where they’ll slip or there’s a crack in that facade. It can be as simple as a tilt of the head or how a body is held, but I feel it when I see it. The work is then distilling that moment of tension and laboring over it with paint." That seems to have captured the spirit of this show so well, how these moments between failure and optimism co-exist, the slight tilt where a feeling is changing, a mood shifts, a new perspective is born. —Evan Pricco
