When writing about Clarence Morgan’s abstract paintings, it is easy to get carried away with a description of the paint and the painting process itself. Evidence of the act is so visible and its effects so tangible that the eye and mind deconstruct the sequence almost automatically, trying to replay the steps taken by the artist. With the subtle variations of color and the much-worked surface—layered, gridded, scraped and splattered—the physical object provides a retinal experience accessible outside any theoretical or historical knowledge, though these things do come into play, introduced by judicious titles, available contextualization and the viewer’s own inclinations. In Morgan’s more recent drawings, the paint is mixed with graphite, ink and marker, and the color is often reduced to blacks and whites, replaced by a complex arrangement of shape, form and line. Discernible patterns and predictable progressions are juxtaposed with chance events and anomalous marks: rhythmic in parts, random in others.
via Indepth Arts News:
2010-07-20 until 2010-08-28
David Richard Contemporary
Santa Fe, NM, USA United States of America
David Richard Contemporary is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by Jay Davis, Peter Demos, Shirley Kaneda, Clarence Morgan, Matthew Penkala and Ben Weiner that explores abstraction through optical illusions. Three of the artists do so by exploiting photographic properties, while the other three focus on form and the illusions provided by color and surface texture.
March 20, 2015
Clarence Morgan’s abstract art reflects an interest in geometry and line, and is a departure from his classical training in figurative painting. He combines painting, drawing and collage to create intricate works that represent order among chaos.
Morgan works side by side with fellow artist and his wife, Arlene Burke-Morgan. An art professor at the University of Minnesota for more than two decades, his personal work can be found in the collections of many museums including the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Weisman Art Museum.
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