aug 6 - 29, 2024

FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING: Aug 7 FROM 6 - 9PM

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, Aug 11, AT 4PM.

NORMAL GALLERY HOURS: TUE - SUN, 12PM - 6PM

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Matt Morris is a mixed media artist who explores relationships between nature and technology. In his most recent work this combination of media is presented as a photographic print in order to blur the distinction between perception and reality. Morris spent a decade living in Bavaria and continues to be influenced by the art and architecture of central Europe. He is motivated by environmental events and cultural issues.

“Like swarming locusts decimating field crops, we move hurriedly through ever-changing versions of technology, laying waste to capital and natural resources along the way. We are a massive tumbling wheel of insects, constantly rolling forward, devouring and discarding, never looking back. Any individual to slow down and ask questions will get passed over, trampled, and left behind.
In the wake of this frenzy of consumption, sometimes I pick up what gets cast aside. Every little piece has value contained within, some more than others. But the value was extracted from nature, and often acquired by way of human suffering. I try to breathe new life into these bits of flotsam, elevating them once more with a secondary purpose before they make it to the landfill. The resulting pictures are stories about our relationship to the environment, and commentary upon our culture.
History is littered with examples of once-vital technology rendered commercially obsolete, then elevated as an art form in a sort of wistful preservation. Could the cycle be accelerated enough so that the art form arrives prematurely, and then the technology is subsequently rendered obsolete as a result?
These pictures are not Photoshop composites or AI prompts. I apply an assemblage approach to photography. Objects are collected, surfaces are painted, and my own photos are sometimes projected, to create a sort of tableau or still life which is ultimately photographed. Everything is captured in camera the way you see it. This is simply pictorialist photography; I think of it as making paintings with the camera.”
- Morris

Morris has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Paris, and Hamburg. While in southern California, he was awarded the Los Angeles Artcore prize by Roland Reiss. Since returning to Louisiana in 2008, Morris has worked as an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University and Baton Rouge Community College.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from John Alleyne, Diane Hanson, and Brad Jensen. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from Aug 6 - 29, 2024.