{{For|the non-fiction writer|Rebecca Morris (author)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Rebecca Morris | image = | caption = | birth_name = Rebecca Morris | birth_date = 1969 | birth_place = Honolulu, Hawaii | field = Painting | training = BA from Smith College, MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago | works = | awards = Guggenheim Fellowship (2008); The California Community Foundation (2013); The City of Los Angeles, COLA Award (2013); Tiffany Foundation (1999); The Durfee Foundation (2005); Art Matters (1996); The Illinois Arts Council (1996); and Faculty Lecturer/Performer Award at Pasadena City College (2009). | website = http://www.rebeccamorris.net/ }} '''Rebecca Morris''' (born 1969 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an abstract painter who is known for casualist<ref name="brooklynrail">{{Cite web|title=ABSTRACT PAINTING: The New Casualists|url=https://brooklynrail.org/2011/06/artseen/abstract-painting-the-new-casualists|last=Butler|first=Sharon L.|date=June 3, 2011|website=brooklynrail.org|language=en-US|access-date=Sep 10, 2020}}</ref> compositions using grid-like structures. In 2004 she published her ''Manifesto: For Abstractionists and Friends of the Non-Objective'', a tongue-in-cheek but sincere response to contemporary criticism of abstract painting in ''Artforum''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Rebecca Morris|url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/2014-biennial/Rebecca-Morris|last=|first=|date=2014|website=Whitney Biennial 2014|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref> She is a professor of painting and drawing at UCLA, and is currently serving as the art department chair.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty : UCLA Department of Art |url=https://www.art.ucla.edu/faculty/ |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=www.art.ucla.edu}}</ref> Prior to that, she lectured at numerous colleges including Columbia University, Bard College, Pasadena City College, USC's School of Fine Arts, and the University of Chicago.<ref name=Dova>{{cite web|title=LECTURE: Rebecca Morris|url=https://dova.uchicago.edu/node/961|publisher=The Department of Visual Arts, The University of Chicago|access-date=2014-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090119/https://dova.uchicago.edu/node/961|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Morris was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, which she says is a place that inspires some of her work.<ref name=artforum>{{cite web|last=Cahill|first=Zachary|title=Rebecca Morris|url=http://artforum.com/words/id=42928|publisher=Artforum}}</ref> She received her BA from Smith College and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
==Work== Morris's artistic process may be characterized as casual, fluid and spontaneous. Inspired by craft and decoration, Morris explores the idiosyncrasy and imperfection of the artist’s hand.<ref name="brooklynrail"/><ref name=":0" /> "I was always interested in creating systems and plan-type drawings." she said in a 2014 interview. "As a child, I drew floor plans of split-level houses, and plans for cities and towns. I also drew imaginary family trees, which were based on a grid-like system, but they featured cat families instead of people families."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Beer with a Painter: Rebecca Morris|url=https://hyperallergic.com/162745/beer-with-a-painter-rebecca-morris/|last=Samet|first=Jennifer|date=November 15, 2014|website=Hyperallergic|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref> Morris avoids describing subject matter as she does not want to dictate what interpretations her painted forms may elicit. Some of her influences are the physical space of her studio, Raoul De Keyser,<ref>{{Cite web|title=EMAIL: Rebecca Morris writes regarding Raoul De Keyser|url=https://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2012/10/email-rebecca-morris-writes-regarding.html|last=Butler|first=Sharon|date=October 13, 2020|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref> Joan Mitchell, James Meyer, and Terry Riley.<ref name="in the make">{{cite web|last=Grattan|first=Nikki|title=Rebecca Morris|url=http://inthemake.com/rebecca-morris/|publisher=In The Make}}</ref> Some compositions are made working flat on the floor, and many include colors that suggest a kind of interior of overlapping paintings, objects, and arrangements of items on a wall. Her artistic practice has been likened to Laura Owens's free sense of historical reference, as well as Frank Stella and Richard Tuttle.<ref name=smith>{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Roberta|title=Rebecca Morris|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/arts/design/07galleries-REBECCAMORRI_RVW.html?pagewanted=print|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-01-06|access-date=2017-02-25|archive-date=2020-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328104055/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/arts/design/07galleries-REBECCAMORRI_RVW.html?pagewanted=print|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Awards== Morris is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and has also received awards from The City of Los Angeles, Tiffany Foundation, The Durfee Foundation, Art Matters, and the Illinois Arts Council.<ref name="Dova"/>
==Exhibitions== Morris has exhibited at 2014 Whitney Biennial (New York), The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston, Made in LA, Hammer Museum, The Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (Switzerland), Friedrich Petzel (New York), The Hessel Art Museum (New York), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Santa Monica Museum of Art, and Night Gallery (Los Angeles).<ref name="Dova"/> She has shown with Mary Boone and Bortolami<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rebecca Morris|url=https://bortolamigallery.com/artist/rebecca-morris/works/|last=|first=|date=2019|website=Bortolami Gallery|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref> in New York.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.rebeccamorris.net/ Artist's official website] * [https://www.museumventure.com/items/2 Artist's works], as presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Rebecca}} Category:1969 births Category:Artists from Honolulu Category:Living people Category:Smith College alumni Category:Painters from Los Angeles Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Category:21st-century American women painters Category:21st-century American painters Category:Casualist artists