The Three Members 1972

Here we have Desmond Morris’s uncanny ‘The Three Members’, a party of characters rendered in curiously muted tones. Imagine Morris, brush in hand, coaxing these odd forms into being; like a sculptor adding clay, he’s built up layer upon layer, allowing each figure to emerge with its own strange personality. The paint, thick in some places, thin in others, gives a tactile quality to the scene. Look at the central figure, that squiggle of neon green perched atop the form like a hat. What was Morris thinking when he made that gesture? Maybe he felt a jolt of excitement, a burst of playful energy as he added that vibrant hue, I know that feeling! Morris's paintings remind me of other artists who embraced the absurd and the surreal. Ultimately, artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time. Painting is an embodied form of expression that thrives on ambiguity, inviting endless interpretations.