Annie Morris :: Allsopp Contemporary :: Artist

Biography

The paintings, sculpture and collage of Annie Morris are obsessive, energetic and thoughtful.  She is above all else a mark maker who uses the simplest of tools to make striking, often haunting images.

Her peg pieces are constructed through rows and rows of clothes pegs. A female figure is drawn onto each peg with watercolour swathed over them.  Formally they become impressive objects  hovering between figuration and abstraction; painting and relief sculpture.  Conceptually the female figure is laid bare on the most basic of domestic objects whilst their compulsive repetition pays homage to one of Morris major influences - the Outsider artists.

Likewise her glass figures expose a primitive angst, a need to engage with the self.  They show Morris' fascination with the work of art as object: the relationship between two and three dimensions, front and back, colour and transparency.

Morris' plaster paintings reveal her skill as both a colourist and a draughtsman.  Deep greens, browns and ochres off-set one another whilst line is used to create a classical yet child-like world of animals, figures, houses and trees.  The innocent sophistication gives the work their charm yet one also senses a lonely, questioning spirit beneath the recessed lines and coloured surface.  The fragmented surface of the postcard pieces combine the compulsive nature of the pegs, her unquenchable desire to draw and create with the seemingly classical slant of her profiles and figures.  Annie Morris' prolific output and figurative obsession conveys a young artist simultaneously at ease and un-settled with herself and her practice.

Education

1999 - 2002 Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris

2002 - 2003 The Slade, London

Awards

2002     Prix Dessin, Ecole Nationale des beaux Arts, Paris

2000     Horner Scholarship, London

Solo Exhibitions

2007    

When A Happy Thing Falls, Allsopp Contemporary, London (cat,. co-produced with Jeannie Frelich Fine Art, NYC

When A Happy Thing Falls, Jeannie Freilich Fine Art, New York

2006    

LightBox, Los Angeles

2005    

Thomas Williams, London

The Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

2004    

Adam St. Gallery, London (curated by Nick Hackworth)

The Daniel Katz Gallery, London

Group Exhibitions

2007     

9, Jeannie Freilich Fine Art, New York

2005     

Francesca Gavin Postcard Exhibition, London

2003     

The Foundry, London

2002     

The Rivington Gallery, New York