Keith Anthony Morrison
Encyclopedia
Keith Anthony Morrison is a Jamaica
n-born painter, educator, critic, curator and administrator. Morrison served as Dean of Tyler School of Art
; Temple University
, Philadelphia; Dean for the College of Creative Arts, San Francisco State University
; Dean for Academic Affairs, San Francisco Art Institute, and Dean for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was previously Professor and Chair of the Art Department. He was also Distinguished Visiting Artist/Scholar at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Previously he was Associate Dean and Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago; Art Department Chair, DePaul University; and Assistant Professor of Art at Fisk University. His first appointment was teacher at Gary High School, Indiana. Morrison studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received a BFA (1963), and MFA (1965). Morrison was born in Linstead
, Jamaica
, in 1942. More information may be found at www.keithmorrison.com
, the Smithsonian Institution
, the Caribbean Biennale in Santo Domingo; the Cuban Biennale in Havana; the Cincinnati Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art
; and the High Museum. He has also exhibited in numerous art galleries across the world, including US solo shows in New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC and San Francisco.
Morrison has curated many exhibitions, including The Curators Eye III, Multimedia and Performance Art in Jamaica, National Gallery of Art, Kingston, Jamaica, 2008; Art in Washington and Its African American Presence: 1940-1970; Prints at the Brandywine Workshop; Jacob Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Series; and Contemporary Art in Cuba at San Francisco State University. He has served as art consultant for many state arts agencies in the United States, and is a former commentator for a weekly program broadcast by WETA-TV
in Washington DC. He was one of five international artists featured in the PBS film Free Within Ourselves.
Morrison has lectured in China, Cuba, Canada, Japan, Liberia, Taiwan and across the US in institutions such as the San Francisco Art Institute
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Getty Museum; Art Institute of Chicago
; and Cooper Union Institute. Morrison gave the 50th Anniversary address for the Edna Manley School of Art,Jamaica; and presented a keynote address at the Ludwig Foundation of Havana, Cuba.
As a writer and critic, Morrison has published articles, essays, catalogs, and reviews in periodicals, newspapers and museum catalogs, and was an editor for the New Art Examiner. He is author of Art in Washington and Its Afro-American Presenece: 1940-1970, WPA, 1985
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Distinctions
Morrison has earned several awards and distinctions, including a Ford Foundation award; Danforth Foundation award; Bi-Centennial Award for Painting in Chicago; Award for Painting from the Organization of African States; Venice Biennale; US Representative to the Shanghai Biennale; Fulbright award.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bibliography
Chen-Young, Leisha: “An Artistic Eye,” Jamaica Observer, June 15, 2008
Ater, Rene: Keith Morrison, Pomegranate Press, 2005
Driskell, David C: The Other Side of Color
San Francisco: Pomegranate Press, 2001
Amidon, Catherine: "Migration, Transition, and Change"
New York: Venice Biennale, 2001
Morrison, Keith. "Preserving Whose Mortality or Immortality?" p. 161-164 Mortality/Immortality?: The Legacy of 20th Century Art. Miguel Angel Corzo, editor Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999
Bettelheim, Judith A. "Three Transnational Artists: Jose Bedia, Eduoard Duval-Carrié and Keith
Morrison." p. 43-48 The International Review of African American Art, 1998, Vol. 15 No. 3
Burgard, Timothy Anglin. Art and Ethnography San Francisco: M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1998
Poupeye, Veerle. Caribbean Art
New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998
Powell, Richard. Black Art and Culture in the Twentieth Century London: Thames and Hudson, 1997
Baker, Kenneth. "Keith Morrison's Art is the Stuff of Dreams". p. E1 San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 1996
Berkson, Bill. "Chaos Dancer" San Francisco: Bomani Gallery, 1996
Bettelheim, Judith. "A Transnational Artist with a Jamaica Soul" San Francisco: Bomani Gallery, 1996
Art in Chicago, 1945-95
Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996
Britton, Crystal A. African American Art: The Long Struggle New York: Smithmark, 1996
Lewis, Samella. Caribbean Visions Richmond, VA: Art Services International, 1995
Driskell, David C., editor, African American Visual Aesthetics: A Postmodernist View (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995).
Risatti, Howard. "Keith Morrison at Brody Gallery." p. 108 Artforum, January 1992
Perry, Regina A. Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection of the National
Museum of American Art. p. 147-149 Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1992
Mereweather, Charles: Myth and Magic, In the Americas: The Eighties
Monterrey: Museum of Modern Art, 1991
Lippard, Lucy. Mixed Blessings : New Art in a Multicultural America New York: Pantheon Books, 1990
Smith, Roberta. "The Galleries of TriBeCa and What's in Them." p. C22 The New York Times, April 27, 1990
Driskell, David C. "Keith Morrison: Interpreter of the Mythic Dream" New York: Alternative Museum, 1990
Powell, Richard. "Anansi Revisited: Keith Morrison's New Work." New York: Alternative Museum, 1990
Francis, Irma Talabi. "Keith Morrison: Spiritual Obsession." Eyewash, November 1990
Powell, Richard, The Blues Aesthetics, WPA, Washington DC, 2001
Driskell, David C. Contemporary Visual Experssions, Smithsonian Press, 1987
Forgey, Benjamin. "Urban Expressions: Contemporary Art Opens at Anacostia." p. G7 The Washington Post, May 16, 1987
Bontemps, Arna Alexander. Choosing. Washington DC: Museum Press, 1985, p. 60-61.
Laing, E.K. "Why it's important to bring black artists out of cultural isolation." p. 29 The Christian Science Monitor, November 20, 1985
Richard, Paul. "Black Artists: Their Pride & Problems: Keith Morrison."
The Washington Post, March 15, 19
East/West: Contemporary American Art
Los Angeles: California Afro-American Museum, 1985.
Livingston, Jane: Ten + Ten + Ten
Washington, D.C.: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1984
Cederholm, Theresa Dickason, editor, Afro-American Artists (Boston Public Library, 1973).
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n-born painter, educator, critic, curator and administrator. Morrison served as Dean of Tyler School of Art
Tyler School of Art
The Stella Elkins Tyler School of Art, usually just referred to as Tyler School of Art is Temple University's school of art, which confers BFA and MFA degrees. The school was originally founded by sculptors Stella Elkins Tyler and Boris Blai on a separate 14-acre estate in Elkins Park...
; Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, Philadelphia; Dean for the College of Creative Arts, San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
; Dean for Academic Affairs, San Francisco Art Institute, and Dean for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was previously Professor and Chair of the Art Department. He was also Distinguished Visiting Artist/Scholar at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Previously he was Associate Dean and Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Chicago; Art Department Chair, DePaul University; and Assistant Professor of Art at Fisk University. His first appointment was teacher at Gary High School, Indiana. Morrison studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received a BFA (1963), and MFA (1965). Morrison was born in Linstead
Linstead
Linstead is a town in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica in the West Indies. In 1991 its population was 14,144. It is located 12 mi/19 km NNW of Spanish Town.-Description:...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, in 1942. More information may be found at www.keithmorrison.com
Career
Morrison has exhibited his work internationally, including exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, Museums of Contemporary Art (MARCA) of Monterrey Mexico, Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, the Caribbean Biennale in Santo Domingo; the Cuban Biennale in Havana; the Cincinnati Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
; and the High Museum. He has also exhibited in numerous art galleries across the world, including US solo shows in New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC and San Francisco.
Morrison has curated many exhibitions, including The Curators Eye III, Multimedia and Performance Art in Jamaica, National Gallery of Art, Kingston, Jamaica, 2008; Art in Washington and Its African American Presence: 1940-1970; Prints at the Brandywine Workshop; Jacob Lawrence’s Toussaint L’Ouverture Series; and Contemporary Art in Cuba at San Francisco State University. He has served as art consultant for many state arts agencies in the United States, and is a former commentator for a weekly program broadcast by WETA-TV
WETA-TV
WETA-TV is a Public Broadcasting Service member public televisionstation for the Washington, D.C., area. Its studios are in nearby Arlington, Virginia...
in Washington DC. He was one of five international artists featured in the PBS film Free Within Ourselves.
Morrison has lectured in China, Cuba, Canada, Japan, Liberia, Taiwan and across the US in institutions such as the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, Getty Museum; Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
; and Cooper Union Institute. Morrison gave the 50th Anniversary address for the Edna Manley School of Art,Jamaica; and presented a keynote address at the Ludwig Foundation of Havana, Cuba.
As a writer and critic, Morrison has published articles, essays, catalogs, and reviews in periodicals, newspapers and museum catalogs, and was an editor for the New Art Examiner. He is author of Art in Washington and Its Afro-American Presenece: 1940-1970, WPA, 1985
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Distinctions
Morrison has earned several awards and distinctions, including a Ford Foundation award; Danforth Foundation award; Bi-Centennial Award for Painting in Chicago; Award for Painting from the Organization of African States; Venice Biennale; US Representative to the Shanghai Biennale; Fulbright award.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bibliography
Chen-Young, Leisha: “An Artistic Eye,” Jamaica Observer, June 15, 2008
Ater, Rene: Keith Morrison, Pomegranate Press, 2005
Driskell, David C: The Other Side of Color
San Francisco: Pomegranate Press, 2001
Amidon, Catherine: "Migration, Transition, and Change"
New York: Venice Biennale, 2001
Morrison, Keith. "Preserving Whose Mortality or Immortality?" p. 161-164 Mortality/Immortality?: The Legacy of 20th Century Art. Miguel Angel Corzo, editor Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999
Bettelheim, Judith A. "Three Transnational Artists: Jose Bedia, Eduoard Duval-Carrié and Keith
Morrison." p. 43-48 The International Review of African American Art, 1998, Vol. 15 No. 3
Burgard, Timothy Anglin. Art and Ethnography San Francisco: M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1998
Poupeye, Veerle. Caribbean Art
New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998
Powell, Richard. Black Art and Culture in the Twentieth Century London: Thames and Hudson, 1997
Baker, Kenneth. "Keith Morrison's Art is the Stuff of Dreams". p. E1 San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 1996
Berkson, Bill. "Chaos Dancer" San Francisco: Bomani Gallery, 1996
Bettelheim, Judith. "A Transnational Artist with a Jamaica Soul" San Francisco: Bomani Gallery, 1996
Art in Chicago, 1945-95
Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996
Britton, Crystal A. African American Art: The Long Struggle New York: Smithmark, 1996
Lewis, Samella. Caribbean Visions Richmond, VA: Art Services International, 1995
Driskell, David C., editor, African American Visual Aesthetics: A Postmodernist View (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995).
Risatti, Howard. "Keith Morrison at Brody Gallery." p. 108 Artforum, January 1992
Perry, Regina A. Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection of the National
Museum of American Art. p. 147-149 Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1992
Mereweather, Charles: Myth and Magic, In the Americas: The Eighties
Monterrey: Museum of Modern Art, 1991
Lippard, Lucy. Mixed Blessings : New Art in a Multicultural America New York: Pantheon Books, 1990
Smith, Roberta. "The Galleries of TriBeCa and What's in Them." p. C22 The New York Times, April 27, 1990
Driskell, David C. "Keith Morrison: Interpreter of the Mythic Dream" New York: Alternative Museum, 1990
Powell, Richard. "Anansi Revisited: Keith Morrison's New Work." New York: Alternative Museum, 1990
Francis, Irma Talabi. "Keith Morrison: Spiritual Obsession." Eyewash, November 1990
Powell, Richard, The Blues Aesthetics, WPA, Washington DC, 2001
Driskell, David C. Contemporary Visual Experssions, Smithsonian Press, 1987
Forgey, Benjamin. "Urban Expressions: Contemporary Art Opens at Anacostia." p. G7 The Washington Post, May 16, 1987
Bontemps, Arna Alexander. Choosing. Washington DC: Museum Press, 1985, p. 60-61.
Laing, E.K. "Why it's important to bring black artists out of cultural isolation." p. 29 The Christian Science Monitor, November 20, 1985
Richard, Paul. "Black Artists: Their Pride & Problems: Keith Morrison."
The Washington Post, March 15, 19
East/West: Contemporary American Art
Los Angeles: California Afro-American Museum, 1985.
Livingston, Jane: Ten + Ten + Ten
Washington, D.C.: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1984
Cederholm, Theresa Dickason, editor, Afro-American Artists (Boston Public Library, 1973).