We're drawn to minimalist, simple forms and repetition--we also have, as you may've noticed, a fondness for circular shapes! If you find yourself in New York between now and February 11, we recommend that you take a trip to the New York space of Blum and Poe Gallery.

Currently on view at Blum and Poe is show by Quentin Morris comprised of works made from 1974 to the present. 

Since the early 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, Morris has exclusively and deliberately used the color black in his paintings, which is an exploration of identity politics, history, and spirituality.

Morris paints and has always painted, for the most part, circular works--which reference the notions of enlightenment, transcendence, and the void--all of which can, perhaps, be attributed to the fact that Morris is a practicing Buddhist. 

The works are meditations on simple forms and on the color black.

Morris works with a variety of mediums to create and take away texture in his monochromatic works, including graphite, spray-paint, ink, powdered pigment, and acrylic, and works on various surfaces including canvas, linen, Mylar, and found scraps of paper.

Though the works are meditative and minimal in form, they're evocative of the ideas and the thought process' behind the works-- it is evident that each is a think piece on political history, morality, and systems of value and belief.

Morris is a determined and reliable artist-- when showing his works he is steadfast about not using frames, because he dislikes them, ensures that his works hang flat against the wall, and that each work, including the pieces on view at Blum and Poe, are untitled. 

From a young age, Morris was determined to become an artist. He studied on a scholarship at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He lives and works in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia where he was raised. He paints in his basement, which was once his aunt’s hair salon.

Morris has shown at museums and galleries including the the African American Museum, The Drawing Center, The Emory Museum of Art and Archeology, the Museu de Arte Contemporânea in Recife, Brazil, and The Studio Museum-- he also has pieces in the permanent collections of several institutions, including the Carnegie Museum of Art. 

By Alexandra