RB Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Richard Allen Morris
Work from the 60’s
Article by Cathy Breslaw
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| A Word From Giotto oil on canvas 68 1/2" x 67 1/4" 1961 |
Viewing the work of Richard
Allen Morris in his new exhibition Work From the 60’s is a step back into art history recalling the
Combine series by Robert Rauschenberg, the figurative work of Willem de Kooning
and the figurative works by artists during the German Expressionist art
movement. This octogenarian came into his own during the 1960’s within the time
frame of his mid-20’s to mid-30’s – and his art works from this period reflect
this fact. The use of materials are wide ranging – oils on cardboard, panel and
canvas, wood sculpture, assemblage, mixed media collage, and ceramic sculpture.
All the works share an energy, spirit
and emotion of a young artist developing his craft. There are three oil and
mixed media assemblage works from his ‘gun’ series for which the artist is well
known. Included in the show are several small portraits where the distortions in color, scale, space,
facial expression and handling of the
brush, convey subjective feelings that evoke our emotions. The series of small ceramic wall sculptures
are expressionistic abstract works that resemble the sensuality of painting.
While paintings ‘Ghost Writer’, ‘Laying Low’ and ‘Whitman’s Heart’ are more ‘minimal’
works, it is clear that Morris’s sensibility as an artist lies in his drive to
express emotion, rhythm and movement.
This is especially evident in what may be considered the ‘signature’
piece of the show – a painting called ‘A Word from Giotto’, a large oil on
canvas that showcases Morris’s skill as a painter, with all the nuances of
energetic brushwork, color, line and space. The fifty-five works in this
exhibition is an ambitious representation of one decade in the life of a
still-prolific artist.
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