Space, Movement, and Body: Marlow Moss

Abstract

Marlow Moss is a prominent but neglected woman artist who worked in geometric abstraction, and her unique approach to space deserves more attention. This manuscript follows Marlow Moss’s work Composition in Red, Black and White (1953) from the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s collection as a case study and explores Moss’s concept of double and truncated lines. In activating an abstract artwork of an overlooked artist produced in the postwar period, I explore the potential of a concept of embodied space. The study reflects on the interrelation between space, movement and body in geometric abstraction. How can engaging with geometric abstraction reveal that space and gender are related? How can feminist concepts of space disrupt the patriarchal spatial systems? What is the relationship between space and social identities? How can Moss’s spatial approach revivify a feminist concept of corporeality?