[no title] by Sarah Morris

[no title] 2001

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Dimensions: image: 737 x 737 mm

Copyright: © Sarah Morris | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate

Curator: Before us, we have an untitled work by Sarah Morris. Morris, born in 1967, is known for her paintings and films that explore architecture and urban environments. Editor: It strikes me as a visual puzzle, quite orderly, yet somehow also unsettling, like a deconstructed city grid drained of human presence. Curator: The composition employs a grid-like structure, segmented by these clean, almost clinical, white lines. Notice how the blocks of colour interact, creating spatial ambiguities. Editor: Absolutely, the colours themselves seem to carry cultural echoes. I see mid-century modern design, corporate aesthetics, and perhaps even hints of early computer graphics. It’s almost a symbol for modern alienation. Curator: Interesting. I view it more as a formal study of intersecting planes and colour relationships, absent of overt symbolism. Its meaning derives from the tensions between surface and depth. Editor: Perhaps. But I can't help but sense a commentary on the structures that define and constrain modern life. Curator: Ultimately, its power lies in its ability to provoke such diverse interpretations. Editor: Indeed, a single image containing limitless viewpoints, that is what is intriguing.

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tate 1 day ago

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/morris-no-title-p78596

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tate 1 day ago

Dulles (Capital) is Morris’s first major print work. The portfolio comprises nine square prints containing abstract geometric grids. Blocks of bright greens, turquoise, yellow, browns, orange and greys are separated by white lines which appear recede into the distance at an extreme perspective. All nine prints may be displayed together, each print separated by 3.5cm of white wall, which becomes part of the work. They form a large square, depicting another, larger grid that echoes the structures within the individual prints. Displayed in this way they provide an off-centre variation of Morris’s painting Constitution Gardens 2000, (private collection). Each print is numbered in the lower right corner to designate its position within the overall grid. The bottom row (Tate P78602-P78604) is made up of large blocks of colour which become more broken up in the middle row (Tate P78599-P78601). By the top row (Tate P78596-P78598) the dense three-dimensional structure has become an intricate array of fragmented blocks and splinters of colour. Alternatively, the prints may be displayed individually or in smaller groups based on their positions within the full scheme.