Mali Morris RA (b. 1945)
Mali Morris was born in North Wales and studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, BA (1963-68) and the University of Reading, MFA (1968–1970).
Her concentrated compositions engage the viewer in the contemplation of pure abstraction, in which colour relationships structure a luminosity that emanates, creating complex layers of space. They explore the language of painting, and its ever-changing expressive possibilities.
Her first major exhibitions were at the Serpentine Summer Show 3, London, 1977 and the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 1979. Since then she has held over 35 solo shows worldwide, and has been included in numerous group shows, at the Barbican, Hayward Gallery, Serpentine Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, Whitworth Gallery Manchester, Museum of Wales Cardiff, as well as a number overseas.
She has received awards from the Arts Council, British Council, DAIWA Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Elephant Trust, GLAA, The Lorne Award and the Sunny Dupree Family Award, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2009.
She has been a lecturer and examiner at many departments of Fine Art, and from 1991-2005 was Senior Lecturer in Painting at Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts, London. She is an Artist-member of the charity A.P.T., Creekside, South London, where she has her studio. She was Visiting Artist at Vermont Studio Center, USA, in 2017, and in 2019 was elected Professor of Painting at the RA Schools.
Profile
Born: 1945 in Caernarfon, Wales, United Kingdom
Nationality: British
Elected RA: 16 March 2010
Elected Senior RA: 1 October 2020
Professor of Painting: 2019 - 2020
Gender: Female
Visit Mali Morris RA (b. 1945)'s website
Preferred media: Painting
Works by Mali Morris in the RA Collection
5 results
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Mali Morris RA
North & South, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
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Mali Morris RA
Toussaint I, December 2014
Screenprint on thick wove paper
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Mali Morris RA
Toussaint II, December 2014
Screenprint on heavy wove paper
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Mali Morris RA
Toussaint III, December 2014
Screenprint on heavy wove paper
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Mali Morris RA
Toussaint IV, December 2014
Screenprint on heavy wove paper
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My studio life
Artists' studios forever
A creekside view
Inside the studio
Tools of the trade
Specialist equipment
Paints
Images and objects
Poetry
Chairs
At the end of the day
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A painting offers another world to enter; essentially it is just inert stuff on a flat surface, but I love the way this visual language can come to life, opening up space and sensation...
Mali Morris RA
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Gallery
Mali Morris RA, North & South, 2010.
Mali Morris RA, Dark Canopy, 2010.
Mali Morris RA, Country Music, 2011.
Mali Morris RA, Lap, 1998-2000.
Mali Morris RA, New Blue, 2013.
Mali Morris RA, Angel and People, 1979.
Mali Morris RA, Part-song, 2017.
Mali Morris RA, Pearled and Pasted, 2016.
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Selected CV
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Recent solo and two-person shows
2019 Mali Morris: On Paper, Tennant Gallery, Royal Academy, London
2018 John McLean & Mali Morris, Clifford Chance, London
2017 Pearled and Pasted, New Paintings, Fold Gallery, London
PIER, Mali Morris & Stephen Lewis, Linden Hall Studio, Deal
2014 Odelay & Wishpool, with Stephen Lewis, Kapil Jariwala, London
2012 Mali Morris: Paintings, Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno
Pressure Drop & Hoopla, with Stephen Lewis, Watchtower, Berwick upon Tweed
Mali Morris: Back to Front, Eagle Gallery, London
2010 Mali Morris: Paintings, The Cut Gallery, Halesworth, Suffolk
Mali Morris, Small Works, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2008 Mali Morris: New Paintings, Poussin Gallery, London
2005 and 2007: Robert Steele Gallery Project Room, New York
2005 Mali Morris: Work From Four Decades, Poussin Gallery, London
Mali Morris, Paintings, Omotesando Gallery, Tokyo
2004 Simon Hitchens and Mali Morris, j+ban, Spica Museum, Tokyo
2002 Mali Morris, Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown
Mali Morris, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham
2000 Alexis Harding and Mali Morris, Pumphouse Gallery, London
Mali Morris, Gallery Saoh, Tokyo -
Recent group shows
2020 Hard Painting x 2, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton Supernova, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College, London Circling the Square, Thames-Side Gallery, Greenwich, London 2019 Fully Awake 5.6, Freelands Foundation, London Present Day, Candida Stevens Gallery, Chichester Harder Edge, Saatchi Gallery, London
Carry On, Fold Gallery, London
Kip Gresham in Collaboration, Downing College, Cambridge
‘point of view 2019’, in association with Hay Festival, Hay on Wye
2018 Women Can’t Paint, Turps Gallery, London
Proof Positive, Gibberd Gallery, Harlow
touch, Candida Stevens Gallery, Chichester
+ One, APT Gallery, London
2017 Cabbages and Kings, Maddox Arts, London
Contemporary Abstract Prints, Clifford Chance, London
Touchstone, APT Gallery, London
Creekside Eleven, Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk (curator)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, Brodrick Gallery, Hull
Painting & Structure, The Kennington Residency, London
Nine Painters, Syson Gallery, Nottingham
Fully Awake, blip blip blip Gallery, Leeds
Counterpoints, Eagle Gallery, London
Women Artists: Power and Presence, University of Chichester
Steal the Show, Glasgow Open House Festival
Nine Painters, Syson Gallery, Nottingham
Abstract, Paper Gallery, Manchester
The Surface of Things, New Adelphi Gallery, University of Salford
2016 Modern Mirror, Bread and Jam IV, London
Cuts, Shapes, Scrapes and Breaks, Seventeen, London
We Are The Dead, Kirk Hopper Fine Art, Dallas, Texas
Juxtaposition, Zilla Bell Gallery, Thirsk, Yorkshire
Turn the Colour Down!, Turps Gallery, London
Tim Sayer Bequest, The Hepworth, Wakefield
Kaleidoscope, Fold Gallery, London
2016 – present Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London -
Selected collections
Arts Council Collection
British Council Collection
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital
Contemporary Art Society, London
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Government Art Collection, London
Guildford House Gallery, Guildford
Imperial Health Charity, London
Ipswich Borough Council Collection
The Kasser Mochary Foundation, Montclair
Lloyds of London
London Borough of Hounslow
Marsh Collection, London
National Museum and Art Gallery, Gaborone
National Museum Wales, Cardiff
New Hall Art Collection, University of Cambridge
Pallant House, Chichester
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Royal Collection
Stanhope Properties plc
Stewarts, London
Triangle Workshop Collection, New York
University of Chichester
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery
University of Reading
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
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Art Sales at the RA
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Line Dance
In her compositions Mali Morris RA explores layering and covering, creating tension and multiple spaces. Her carefully composed paintings often feature varying brush strokes and shapes that are then ‘buried’ in different ways. In this vibrant, printed image, Morris uses sweeping strokes and painted spots to create different levels within the work with some areas receding and some floating above the tangerine background.
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Ruby Tuesday
To dynamic effect, Mali Morris RA translates her painterly preoccupations with colour, light and space – and how these relate to experience – into the very different medium of screenprint. These prints are available to buy through Art Sales at the RA.
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Bridge
Bridge is a limited edition silkscreen, made with the master printer Kip Gresham. It explores a constantly shifting dynamic of space, built through colour, layering, and a process of many over-printings. The image eventually arrived at, discovered rather than designed, is direct, complex, and strongly luminous.
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