Quentin Morris

November 4, 2016 – February 11, 2017
New York

Opening reception: Friday, November 4, 6–8pm

Blum & Poe is pleased to present a forty-year survey of paintings and works on paper by Philadelphia-based artist Quentin Morris. This marks Morris’ first solo exhibition in New York, and will highlight works made from 1974 to the present. 

Since the early 1960s, while a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Morris has exclusively and deliberately employed the color black in his paintings and works on paper. Heavily worked surfaces consisting of graphite, powdered pigment, spray-paint, ink, and acrylic on canvas, linen, Mylar, or found paper, reflect a rigorous dedication to the color black and the pursuit of a pure aesthetic moment. These narrow, formal parameters serve as a guide to Morris’ investigation of both identity politics and spirituality. As a practicing Buddhist, Morris’ employment of the color black and his predominantly circular works, speak to concepts of enlightenment, transcendence, and the void.

Morris explains, “I began exploring monochromatic painting ... exclusively black using a myriad of tonalities and textures to present black's intrinsically enigmatic beauty and infinite depth, to refute all negative cultural mythologies about the color, and ultimately, to create work that innately expresses the all encompassing spirituality of life." What results is a body of work with a plethora of subtle variations, yielded from a half-century-long meditation on the color black. 

Quentin Morris has exhibited at numerous public institutions including a retrospective at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 2004. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA (2006, 2000); Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA (2001); The Drawing Center, New York, NY (2002, 1993); Emory Museum of Art and Archeology, Atlanta, GA (1990); Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA (1991, 1990, 1988); Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Recife, Brazil (1993); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA (2010, 2004, 1975); Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (1999); and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY (2009, 2006, 2004). Morris’ work is represented in the permanent collections of many public institutions including a recent acquisition by the Carnegie Museum of Art. 

Selected Works

News

New York Times: Quentin Morris

02/02/2017

Artforum: Quentin Morris

11/01/2016

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