Burton Morris: Pop!
Emily Lowe Gallery
July 14 - September 27, 2009
In his own words, Burton Morris states:
My artwork celebrates beauty and life while projecting an optimistic sense of high energy and style.
I choose to paint objects and icons. I want to challenge the way we view everyday ideas in our modern day culture by representing the common object singularly, reducing it to an iconic graphic form and adding an energetic and colorful twist.
My fascination with icons as a pictorial language is based upon my design and advertising background, communicating a message in its most simplistic form. I admire the directness and limited color palette of an icon, sharply defined edges, and simple flat areas of color. I try to create an instant happening for the viewer with each composition I create.
My artwork is always representational and made without recourse or distractions to the brushstrokes or shading. They are flat and uninflected, precise and fundamentally optimistic. I am a picture-maker and look at the world with a positive vision.
Building on the legacy of Pop Art masters of the 1960s and 1970s, the highly acclaimed artist Burton Morris presents his personal world of popular American icons that puts a delightful spin on everyday objects and motifs. This exhibition features 35 examples of Morris’ work in his post-Pop style that boldly projects high energy and fun.
Morris’ artistic forebears include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann and Red Grooms. He also employs some of the shorthand gestures of comic strips and magazines he has loved and emulated since childhood. These classic devices are seen in his simplified forms and action lines indicating movement joined with his rich acrylic colors. Morris imbues his art with his own impeccable style and optimistic frame of mind.
In his paintings, Morris energizes every day images with this unique style. Subjects such as a steaming coffee cup, a swirling martini and a dancing popcorn box all take on a new life under his skillfully employed paintbrush.
Pop!, 2008
Acrylic on canvas
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