Robert Morris (artist)

Robert Morris 1931-, American artist, b. Kansas City, Mo. He settled in New York City in 1960 and was allied in his early work with the simple, impersonal forms of minimalism , e.g., an untitled 1965 work consisting of four blocks of gray fiberglass. He also often used mirrored surfaces in his sculpture. Implicit in his work is the idea that art can be made of anything. Morris's style and media have changed many times during his career. He has used nonrigid materials such as felt and even steam—precluding reproducible forms and emphasizing the process of art—and was also involved in conceptual art and land art . He is known for his enormous multipart sculptures of the 1980s, which include a wide variety of materials, notably casts of body parts and skeletons. Morris has also experimented in performance art , incorporating dance, theater, and the plastic arts. He is a rigorous theorist of art and an influential teacher.

Morris, Robert (1931– ). American artist and writer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent exponents and theorists of Minimal art, and has also worked in other fields, including Conceptual art, Land art, and Performance art. His most characteristic sculptures consist of large-scale, hard-edged geometric forms, but he has also made ‘anti-form’ pieces in soft, hanging materials.

Morris, Robert (1931– ). American sculptor, painter, experimental artist, and writer. He was born in Kansas City and studied engineering at the university there whilst also attending classes at the city's Art Institute. After service in the US Army, 1951–2, he began his artistic career in San Francisco, painting Abstract Expressionist pictures and also being involved with other activities including improvisatory theatre. In 1961 he moved to New York, where he took an MA in art history at Hunter College in 1963 (his thesis was on Brancusi). Meanwhile he had turned from painting to sculpture and he emerged as one of the most prominent exponents and theorists of Minimal art. He also experimented with Performance art, environments, and earthworks (see LAND ART), and through such activities he was prominent in breaking down traditional ideas linking the work of the artist with the studio, promoting instead the idea executing works in situ. Morris's most characteristic sculptures consist of large-scale, hardedged geometric forms, but he has also made anti-form pieces in soft, hanging materials. In 1983 he changed tack completely, returning to painting in an emotive figurative style, often with explicit political messages.