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Robert MorrisAmerican sculptor, artist
Country:
 USA |
Content:
- Biography of Robert Morris
- Education and Early Career
- Transition to Sculpture and Minimalism
- Performance Art and Writing
- Land Art and Criticism
- Later Works and Observatorium Robert Morris
- Later Years
Biography of Robert Morris
Robert Morris is an American sculptor, conceptual artist, and writer. He is considered one of the prominent theorists of minimalism, alongside Donald Judd, and has also made significant contributions to the development of performance art, land art, process art, and installation.
Education and Early Career
Morris studied at the University of Kansas, the Kansas City Art Institute, and Reed College. Initially working as a painter, his works in the 1950s were influenced by abstract expressionism, particularly Jackson Pollock. While living in California, Morris also became familiar with the works of La Monte Young and John Cage.
Transition to Sculpture and Minimalism
Morris moved to New York in 1960, where he staged a performance based on the exploration of bodies in space, in which a square column on stage would fall a few minutes after the start of the performance. He developed the same ideas in his early minimalist sculptures, such as "Two Columns" (1961) and "L Beams" (1965). In New York, Morris began studying the work of Marcel Duchamp, creating works that directly addressed Duchamp's works, such as "Box with the Sound of its Own Making" (1961) and "Fountain" (1963). In 1963, he held an exhibition of minimalist sculpture at the Green Gallery in New York.
Performance Art and Writing
In 1964, Morris developed and presented two well-known performances, "21.3" and "Site." He enrolled in Hunter College in New York (his dissertation was dedicated to Brancusi) and in 1966 published a series of influential essays titled "Notes on Sculpture" in Artforum. In 1966, he exhibited two works, "L Beams," at the "Primary Structures" exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York.
Land Art and Criticism
In 1967, Morris created "Steam," an early work of land art. In the late 1960s, he participated in museum shows in America, but his work and articles faced criticism from Clement Greenberg. His works became more expansive, occupying a significant portion of gallery space with a series of modular units or heaps of earth. In 1971, Morris created an exhibition for the Tate Gallery, occupying the space with ramps and cubes. He published a photo of himself in an advertisement in Artforum magazine, a spirit reminiscent of Linda Benglis' image, with whom he collaborated on several videos.
Later Works and Observatorium Robert Morris
Morris created the Observatorium Robert Morris in the Netherlands, a "contemporary Stonehenge" that records solstices and equinoxes. Its coordinates are 52°32'58"N 5°33'57"E. Throughout the late 1970s, Morris shifted to figurative works, surprising many of his supporters. The themes of his works often dealt with the fear of nuclear war. In 1974, Robert Morris advertised an exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery with a poster displaying himself with a bare chest in sadomasochistic attire.
Later Years
During the 1990s, he returned to his early works, engaging in reconstructions and installations of lost artworks. Morris currently lives and works in New York.
