George Morrison (1919–2000) constantly explored new ways to translate nature and personal experience. Born near Grand Marais, Minnesota, Morrison trained in Minneapolis before moving to New York in 1943. Immersed in the culture of improvisation and experimentation in New York, Morrison gradually worked on a large scale and made thickly encrusted paintings shimmering with light and energy. This installation places Morrison’s Untitled (1960) painting in dialogue with artists he knew and exhibited with in the 1950s and 1960s, including Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, and Louise Nevelson. Recently conserved, Morrison’s painting has not been on view at Mia for many decades. This installation reconnects Morrison’s work to midcentury modernism and reaches forward to suggest his legacy. A newly acquired piece by Andrea Carlson (Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, b. 1979), who early on received encouragement from Morrison, will also be on view for the first time.

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George Morrison in Focus from Minneapolis Institute of Art on Vimeo.