related artist
related exhibition

What
The Yale School of Art presents an exhibition of oil paintings and works on paper by Malcolm Morley, one of the seminal figures of international contemporary art. Malcolm Morley in a Nutshell: The Fine Art of Painting 1954–2012 comprises fifteen paintings—including two painted installations being exhibited for the first time, seven watercolors, and a drawing, all selected from the expansive output of this paradigm-changing artist.

Works in the exhibition range from large-scale canvases such as Cristoforo Colombo (1965), Camels and Goats (1980), and Rat Tat Tat (2001), to smaller sketches such as Hollywood Film Stars and Homes Foldout (1973) and back to the two new and previously unseen painted installations—Biggles (2011) and The Spitfire (2012). The exhibition centers on the recurring themes of disaster and chaos in Morley’s oeuvre (forces symbolized by automotive mayhem, beleaguered boats, and speeding, crashing aircraft) while offering glimpses of its other more whimsical dimensions.

Although he has refused to settle into any consistent style or follow any predictable path, Morley has nonetheless participated in or anticipated major art movements. Notably these associations include the precedent-setting example of his early 1960s “Photo-Realist” paintings (the artist preferred the label “Super Realist”), and his broad-brushed, image-dense canvases of the 1980s, frequently cited as precursors to “Neo-Expressionism” or “Bad Painting.”

A fully illustrated catalogue of the exhibition, featuring an interview with Morley and an essay by the curator Robert Storr, is forthcoming.

Mr. Morley will speak at the School of Art on January 30, 2012.

When
January 31–March 31, 2012
Wednesday–Monday (closed Tuesday), 12–7 pm

Where
Yale School of Art
32 Edgewood Avenue Gallery, New Haven, CT

Support
Lead support for Malcolm Morley in a Nutshell: The Fine Art of Painting 1954–2012 has come from the Andrew J. & Christine C. Hall Foundation and the generous cooperation of Malcolm and Lida Morley. Indispensable loans and technical assistance have come from the Sperone Westwater gallery, and The Pace Gallery.

Malcolm Morley
Born in London in 1931, Malcolm Morley moved to the United States in 1958, following completion of his studies at the Royal College of Art. He has forged a unique path as an artist, creating a body of work that, while diverse and multifaceted, continues to reflect his childhood experience of the Blitz and the ensuing post-war era in London.

In 1984, Morley was awarded the first-ever Turner Prize. His work is found in museum collections worldwide, including Tate, London; The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. It has been the subject of retrospectives at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Hayward Gallery, London; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Florida. In 1984, a solo exhibition, Malcolm Morley: Paintings, 1965–82, was organized by was organized by The Whitechapel Art Gallery in London and traveled to the Brooklyn Museum.

School of Art Exhibitions
Established in 2009, the Yale School of Art’s 32 Edgewood Avenue Gallery presents a year-round program of special exhibitions that bring examples of vital contemporary art from around the world to New Haven. The School’s gallery at 1156 Chapel Street focuses on work by students, including both those in the School of Art and Yale undergraduates, as well as loan exhibitions curated by students and faculty. Three-Card Monte, the current show, was curated by School of Art students. Contributing to the University’s rich visual-art offerings, these shows are free and open to the public. For information: www.art.yale.edu.

Press Contacts
Lucy O’Brien or Stephanie Markovic at Jeanne Collins & Associates, LLC, New York City, 646-486-7050, lobrien@jcollinsassociates.com, smarkovic@jcollinsassociates.com.