I am fortunate to have met most of the original Western Front founders. I was close to Kate Craig (1947-2002) in the years before her passing, and some of her plants continue to thrive in my garden. This morning I received news that Michael Morris passed away. He was 80.
This writing will not be an attempt at a remembrance or an obituary but an announcement of a day to be spent with Michael, someone I was happy to know, learn from and work with; someone who devoted his life to art, its concerns and relations.
The picture up top is a relatively small ink and gouache work I found on the Heffel site. The work is dated 1965 (likely done while Michael was at the Slade, UK) and is untitled.
Of the three sections, it is the middle passage that is closer to a style Michael would become known for, particularly his The Problem of Nothing (1966), an acrylic on canvas painting that Ray Johnson saw reproduced (in black-and-white) in Artforum. Johnson collaged the reproduction and sent it to Michael (c/o the VAG?) under the auspices of the New York Correspondence School. Michael replied, and the rest is art history.
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