“I’m exploring monochromatic painting, exclusively black…to present black’s intrinsically enigmatic beauty and infinite depth [and] to relentlessly refute all negative cultural mythologies about the color.”
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow, visual artist. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, BLACK, 2016, installation view at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow, visual artist. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, BLACK, 2016, installation view at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow, visual artist. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, BLACK, 2016, installation view at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow, visual artist. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, BLACK, 2016, installation view at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow, visual artist. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2016 installation view at Blum & Poe, New York. Photo by Christian Defonte, courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris, 2018 Pew Fellow. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Quentin Morris, BLACK, 2016, installation view at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe.
Quentin Morris is a visual artist who, for more than 50 years, has been creating monochromatic paintings and works on paper that explore the possibilities of the color black. Morris began his meditation on the color while he was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in the early 1960s, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. His large body of work investigates themes surrounding identity, politics, and spirituality, and incorporates mediums ranging from graphite, powdered pigment, and spray paint, to ink and acrylic on canvas, linen, Mylar, and paper. His work has been exhibited at various museums and galleries nationally and regionally, including, most recently, in a career retrospective at Blum and Poe, New York City (2017) and in the group exhibition 20/20: The Studio Museum in Harlem and Carnegie Museum of Art (2017). He is represented by Larry Becker Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Morris’ work is included in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
