Sarah Morris


Sarah Morris is an American and British artist. She lives in New York City in the United States.

Personal life and education

Morris was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, in south-east England, on 20 June 1967. She attended Brown University from 1985 to 1989, Cambridge University, and the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1989–90. She was a Berlin Prize fellow at the American Academy in Berlin in 1999–2000; in 2001 she received a Joan Mitchell Foundation painting award. She was married to Liam Gillick.

Work

Morris works in both painting and film, and considers the two to be interconnected.
From about 1997 her paintings were geometric Modernist grid designs with flat planes of colour; a related series was of glass-faced skyscrapers with geometric landscape designs reflected in their façades. Among her earlier painting styles were screen-prints reminiscent of Andy Warhol, word-paintings, and paintings of shoes.
File:Robert Towne Installation.jpg|thumb|Robert Towne, 2006. Lever House, Manhattan
Morris's films have been characterized as portraits that focus on the psychology of individuals or cities. Her films about cities, like Midtown, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Rio depict urban scenes, capturing the architecture, politics, industry and leisure which define a specific place. Other films describe a place through the viewpoint of an individual, like psychologist Dr. George Sieber describing the terrorist event at the Olympic Stadium in Munich in the film 1972 or the industry politics of Hollywood from the viewpoint of screenwriter and producer in the eponymous film Robert Towne.

Exhibitions

She has shown internationally, with solo exhibitions at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot, M Museum, Leuven, Belgium, Kunsthalle Wein, Vienna, Austria, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland, UCCA, Beijing, China,
Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong
Her mid-career retrospective titled "All Systems Fail" traveled to multiple cities and museums in 2023 and 2024 including: Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany , Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Germany , Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland and Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany .
She has created site-specific works for various institutions including the Lever House, Kunsthalle Bremen in Germany, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Museum, Düsseldorf, Germany, the lobby of UBS in New York City, the Gloucester Road tube station in London, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Dutch Kills / 39th Ave Subway Station, Ad-Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, St. Louis Lambert International Airport, General Dynamics Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, Tulsa Convention Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gateway School for Sciences, Queens, New York, and Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, Key Biscayne Community Center, Key Biscayne, Florida.
Morris's films have been featured at the following:
In 2011 Morris was sued by a group of six origami artists, including American Robert J. Lang. They alleged that in 24 works in her "Origami" series of paintings Morris had without permission or credit copied their original crease patterns, coloured them, and sold them as "found" or "traditional" designs.
The case was settled out of court early in 2013; under the terms of the settlement, the creators of the crease patterns are to be given credit when the works are displayed.
Painting titleYear paintedSquare painting edge sizesModel titleModel composer
Angel2009214 cmHarpyJason Ku
Bat2007214 cmBatNoboru Miyajima
Black Ant2009214 cmHarvestman Manuel Sirgo
Calypte Anna2007214 cmRuby-throated Hummingbird, opus 389Robert J. Lang
Calypte Anna2008289 cmRuby-throated Hummingbird, opus 389Robert J. Lang
Cat200753.5 cmCatNoboru Miyajima
Cat2007214 cmCatNoboru Miyajima
Chaser2008214 cmDragonfly, opus 369Robert J. Lang
Clerid Beetle2009214 cmScorpion Manuel Sirgo
Crane2008214 cmDancing Crane, opus 460Robert J. Lang
Cuttlefish2009214 cmSepiaManuel Sirgo
Dragon2007214 cmKNL Dragon, opus 132Robert J. Lang
Falcon2007214 cmCooper’s Hawk, opus 464Robert J. Lang
Falcon200853.5 cmCooper’s Hawk, opus 464Robert J. Lang
Goatfish2007152.5 cmGoatfish, opus 202Robert J. Lang
Grasshopper200776.6 cmGrasshopper, opus 83Robert J. Lang
Grasshopper2007289 cmGrasshopper, opus 83Robert J. Lang
Hercules Beetle2007214 cmHercules Beetle, opus 271Robert J. Lang
June Beetle2009214 cmCyclommatus metalliferNicola Bandoni
Kawasaki Cube200853.5 cmKawasaki Cube #1Toshikazu Kawasaki
Kawasaki Cube200853.5 cmKawasaki Cube #1Toshikazu Kawasaki
Kawasaki Cube2008214 cmKawasaki Cube #1Toshikazu Kawasaki
Kawasaki Cube2009289 cmKawasaki Cube #1Toshikazu Kawasaki
Leaf Mantis2009214 cmLeaf MantisManuel Sirgo
Lion2007214 cmLionNoboru Miyajima
Mommoth200753.5 cmMommothNoboru Miyajima
Mommoth2007214 cmMommothNoboru Miyajima
Mouse2007122 cmRat, opus 159Robert J. Lang
Night Hawk2008214 cmStealth Fighter, opus 324Robert J. Lang
Night Hunter2007214 cmNight Hunter, opus 469Robert J. Lang
Orchis2008214 cmOrchid, opus 392Robert J. Lang
Parrot2009214 cmMacawManuel Sirgo
Pegasus200753.5 cmPegasus, opus 325Robert J. Lang
Pegasus2007214 cmPegasus, opus 325Robert J. Lang
Praying Mantis2007214 cmPraying Mantis, opus 246Robert J. Lang
Rabbit2007122 cmRabbit, opus 186Robert J. Lang
Raccoon Dog2007122 cmRaccoon DogNoboru Miyajima
Rhino Beetle2008214 cmEupatorus gracilicornus, opus 476Robert J. Lang
Rockhopper200720.8 cmPenguinNoboru Miyajima
Rockhopper2007122 cmPenguinNoboru Miyajima
Rockhopper2009289 cmPenguinNoboru Miyajima
Swan2007122 cmSwanNoboru Miyajima
Swan2007214 cmSwanNoboru Miyajima
Swan2007289 cmSwanNoboru Miyajima
Swan200853.5 cmSwanNoboru Miyajima
Tarantula200853.5 cmTarantulaRobert J. Lang
Tarantula2008214 cmTarantulaRobert J. Lang
Weasel200776.6 cmWeaselNoboru Miyajima
Weasel2007214 cmWeaselNoboru Miyajima
Weasel2008122 cmWeaselNoboru Miyajima
Weasel2008289 cmWeaselNoboru Miyajima
Wolf2007289 cmWolfNoboru Miyajima