Paul Morrison
02 Jun - 01 Sep 2007
PAUL MORRISON
2 June – 14 July 2007
The British artist Paul Morrison has been invited to make a show of wall drawings at Bloomberg SPACE. For this new commission, Morrison will tackle the three different spaces of the gallery, responding in each case to their particular architectural qualities with site-specific works.
His show at Bloomberg SPACE will be his first solo public space exhibition in London.
Paul Morrison breathes life into the traditional genre of landscapes and botanical paintings in a skilful and multi-faceted way. His black and white paintings are characterised by the recurrence of individual plant motifs, which he presents in a range of composition and scale. Mixing high and low culture, Morrison draws on imagery from popular and classical sources. These references range from the Disney cartoon to a Dürer landscape to create abstracted and often hyper-magnified visions of landscape. Morrison makes inventive use of perspective and proportion, the classical elements of composition, to sample different patterns of perception. In his wall paintings, the individual motif is shown in minute proportion to give the illusionary experience of distance. He can also place it at almost painful close range, directly in front of the eyes of the viewer, to create a sense of immersion.
The exhibition at Bloomberg SPACE will be characterised by Morrison’s continued involvement and fascination with the use of traditional printing methods to represent landscape. For this new commission, Morrison has tackled the three different spaces of the gallery, responding each time to the particular architectural qualities with site-specific works. Across the two adjoining walls of Gallery One, the expansive image of a lake is dominated by smoking volcanoes. Bordered by the black silhouettes of two trees this densely lined image has at its centre a circular flower, over four metres in circumference, into which a door appears to have been cut. This circular motif will reoccur in Gallery Two, as if a huge peephole has been drilled in the black wall and through which a large spherical single multi-headed bloom can be seen. Finally, a medieval landscape of citadels perched on rocky mountains will run around the balcony gallery. From one corner a digitally stretched black thistle will appear to have sprouted, threatening to obliterate the pre-perspective vista beyond. This counterpointing of different forms of representation found throughout art history is central to Morrison’s practice. Through his paintings, sculptures and films he slowly unpicks the act of seeing and challenges the sophisticated way we have grown to see the world.
Paul Morrison also has commissioned wall drawings on permanent display on the stairwells of Bloomberg’s New York offices.
Bloomberg SPACE, opened in 2002, reflects the core principles of innovation, adventurous creativity and education central to Bloomberg’s reputation for arts sponsorship.
Paul Morrison was born in Liverpool in 1966 and lives and works in Sheffield.
His solo exhibitions include: The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu (2006) Alison Jacques Gallery, London (2005); Cheim and Read, New York (2004); Saxifraga, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamon and Haematoxylon, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2003). His Group exhibitions include: Fairy Tale, The New Art Gallery Walsall (2007); Eye on Europe: prints, books & multiples / 1960 to now, MOMA, New York (2006); The Animators, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (touring) (2005); The Flower as Image, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (2004); Flowers Observed, Flowers Transformed, the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA (2004) and Art of the Garden, Tate Britain, London (2004).
2 June – 14 July 2007
The British artist Paul Morrison has been invited to make a show of wall drawings at Bloomberg SPACE. For this new commission, Morrison will tackle the three different spaces of the gallery, responding in each case to their particular architectural qualities with site-specific works.
His show at Bloomberg SPACE will be his first solo public space exhibition in London.
Paul Morrison breathes life into the traditional genre of landscapes and botanical paintings in a skilful and multi-faceted way. His black and white paintings are characterised by the recurrence of individual plant motifs, which he presents in a range of composition and scale. Mixing high and low culture, Morrison draws on imagery from popular and classical sources. These references range from the Disney cartoon to a Dürer landscape to create abstracted and often hyper-magnified visions of landscape. Morrison makes inventive use of perspective and proportion, the classical elements of composition, to sample different patterns of perception. In his wall paintings, the individual motif is shown in minute proportion to give the illusionary experience of distance. He can also place it at almost painful close range, directly in front of the eyes of the viewer, to create a sense of immersion.
The exhibition at Bloomberg SPACE will be characterised by Morrison’s continued involvement and fascination with the use of traditional printing methods to represent landscape. For this new commission, Morrison has tackled the three different spaces of the gallery, responding each time to the particular architectural qualities with site-specific works. Across the two adjoining walls of Gallery One, the expansive image of a lake is dominated by smoking volcanoes. Bordered by the black silhouettes of two trees this densely lined image has at its centre a circular flower, over four metres in circumference, into which a door appears to have been cut. This circular motif will reoccur in Gallery Two, as if a huge peephole has been drilled in the black wall and through which a large spherical single multi-headed bloom can be seen. Finally, a medieval landscape of citadels perched on rocky mountains will run around the balcony gallery. From one corner a digitally stretched black thistle will appear to have sprouted, threatening to obliterate the pre-perspective vista beyond. This counterpointing of different forms of representation found throughout art history is central to Morrison’s practice. Through his paintings, sculptures and films he slowly unpicks the act of seeing and challenges the sophisticated way we have grown to see the world.
Paul Morrison also has commissioned wall drawings on permanent display on the stairwells of Bloomberg’s New York offices.
Bloomberg SPACE, opened in 2002, reflects the core principles of innovation, adventurous creativity and education central to Bloomberg’s reputation for arts sponsorship.
Paul Morrison was born in Liverpool in 1966 and lives and works in Sheffield.
His solo exhibitions include: The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu (2006) Alison Jacques Gallery, London (2005); Cheim and Read, New York (2004); Saxifraga, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamon and Haematoxylon, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2003). His Group exhibitions include: Fairy Tale, The New Art Gallery Walsall (2007); Eye on Europe: prints, books & multiples / 1960 to now, MOMA, New York (2006); The Animators, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (touring) (2005); The Flower as Image, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (2004); Flowers Observed, Flowers Transformed, the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA (2004) and Art of the Garden, Tate Britain, London (2004).