Moira Dryer

Moira Dryer (1957–1992) was a Canadian artist known for her abstract paintings on wood panels that bridged the gap between Conceptual Art and contemporary painting with a playful and poetic approach.

Dryer was born the youngest of three children in Toronto, Canada. Her mother, Pegeen Synge, was an architect and her father, Douglas Dryer. was a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto. Dryer attended Sir George Williams University in Montreal before moving to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan. At SVA she was a student of the painter Elizabeth Murray in 1978 and 1980 and became a friends and a studio assistant to Murray. She also became a studio assistant to the Neo-expressionist painter Julian Schnabel. Dryer graduated from SVA with honors in 1981.

Before working full time as painter, Dryer was a freelance prop and scenic design maker, and set designer for the avant-garde theater company Mabou Mines.

In 1982, Dryer married fellow painter and SVA classmate Victor Alzamora. Alzamora died of a congenital heart condition in 1983 at the age of 29.

Moira Dryer died of cancer at her home in New York City on May 20, 1992.