Mali Morris RA (b. 1945)
Mali Morris was born in North Wales and studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, BA (1963-68) and the University of Reading, MFA (1968–1970).
Her concentrated compositions engage the viewer in the contemplation of pure abstraction, in which colour relationships structure a luminosity that emanates, creating complex layers of space. They explore the language of painting, and its ever-changing expressive possibilities.
Her first major exhibitions were at the Serpentine Summer Show 3, London, 1977 and the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 1979. Since then she has held over 40 solo shows worldwide, and has been included in numerous group shows, at the Barbican, Hayward Gallery, Serpentine Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool, Whitworth Gallery Manchester, Museum of Wales Cardiff, as well as a number overseas.
She has received awards from the Arts Council, British Council, DAIWA Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Elephant Trust, GLAA, The Lorne Award and the Sunny Dupree Family Award, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2009. In 2022 she was shortlisted for the David and Yuko Juda Foundation Award.
She has been a lecturer and examiner at many departments of Fine Art, and from 1991-2005 was Senior Lecturer in Painting at Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts, London. She is a Founder-member of the charity A.P.T, Creekside, South London, where she has her studio. She was Visiting Artist at Vermont Studio Center, USA in 2017, and from 2019 - 2020 was Professor of Painting at the RA Schools. A monograph, Mali Morris: Painting was published by RA in 2019. She is featured in Turps Banana, Issue 28, February 2024, and a talk by Mali Morris on her work is at Norwich & Norfolk Festival, 15 May 2024.
Profile
Born: 1945 in Caernarfon, Wales, United Kingdom
Nationality: British
Elected RA: 16 March 2010
Elected Senior RA: 1 October 2020
Professor of Painting: 2019 - 2020
Gender: Female
Visit Mali Morris RA (b. 1945)'s website
Preferred media: Painting
Works by Mali Morris in the RA Collection
5 results
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![Mali Morris RA, North & South]()
Mali Morris RA
North & South, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
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![Mali Morris RA, Toussaint I]()
Mali Morris RA
Toussaint I, December 2014
Screenprint on thick wove paper
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![Mali Morris RA, Toussaint II]()
Mali Morris RA
Toussaint II, December 2014
Screenprint on heavy wove paper
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![Mali Morris RA, Toussaint III]()
Mali Morris RA
Toussaint III, December 2014
Screenprint on heavy wove paper
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![Mali Morris RA, Toussaint IV]()
Mali Morris RA
Toussaint IV, December 2014
Screenprint on heavy wove paper
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My studio life
![Artists' studios forever]()
Artists' studios forever
![A creekside view]()
A creekside view
![Inside the studio]()
Inside the studio
![Tools of the trade]()
Tools of the trade
![Specialist equipment]()
Specialist equipment
![Images and objects]()
Images and objects
![Poetry]()
Poetry
![Chairs]()
Chairs
![At the end of the day]()
At the end of the day
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A painting offers another world to enter; essentially it is just inert stuff on a flat surface, but I love the way this visual language can come to life, opening up space and sensation...
Mali Morris RA
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Gallery
![Mali Morris RA, North & South]()
Mali Morris RA, North & South, 2010.
![Mali Morris RA, Dark Canopy]()
Mali Morris RA, Dark Canopy, 2010.
![Mali Morris RA, Country Music]()
Mali Morris RA, Country Music, 2011.
![Mali Morris RA, Lap]()
Mali Morris RA, Lap, 1998-2000.
![Mali Morris RA, New Blue]()
Mali Morris RA, New Blue, 2013.
![Mali Morris RA, Angel and People]()
Mali Morris RA, Angel and People, 1979.
![Mali Morris RA, Part-song]()
Mali Morris RA, Part-song, 2017.
![Mali Morris RA, Albi II]()
Mali Morris RA, Albi II, 2023.
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Selected CV
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Recent and forthcoming solo and two-person shows
From September 2024 Mali Morris: Returning, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle
2023 Mali Morris: Calling. A survey of 25 years, Ikon Gallery Birmingham
2023 Mali Morris, Printmaker in Focus, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin
2022 Flags for Bond Street (33 installed from Piccadilly to Oxford Street), London
2022 Mali Morris RA: Mardi Gras etc. Retrospective of prints, Royal Academy, London
2022 Three Ghosts, Paintings by Mali Morris, Hales Gallery, New York, USA
2019 Mali Morris: On Paper, Tennant Gallery, Royal Academy, London
2018 John McLean & Mali Morris, Clifford Chance, London
2017 Pearled and Pasted, New Paintings, Fold Gallery, London
PIER, Mali Morris & Stephen Lewis, Linden Hall Studio, Deal
2014 Odelay & Wishpool, with Stephen Lewis, Kapil Jariwala, London
2012 Mali Morris: Paintings, Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno
Pressure Drop & Hoopla, with Stephen Lewis, Watchtower, Berwick upon Tweed
Mali Morris: Back to Front, Eagle Gallery, London
2010 Mali Morris: Paintings, The Cut Gallery, Halesworth, Suffolk
Mali Morris, Small Works, Royal Academy of Arts, London -
Recent and forthcoming group shows
March - April 2024 HARDPAPER, Phoenix Art Space, Brighton
February - March 2024 Chromascopic, APT Gallery, London
2023 Original Print Fair, London, Somerset House; Anarene, curated by Danny Rolph, 532 Gallery New York, USA
2023 Tic Tac Toe, curated by Karolina Albricht, APT Gallery, London
The Italian Effect, curated by Stephen Farthing RA, Italian Cultural Institute, London
2022 The Language of Abstraction, Fen Ditton Gallery, Cambridge
Shape Makers, Austin Desmond Gallery, London
Celebration: British Abstract Painting, Mercer Gallery, Harrogate
APT NOW, APT Gallery, London
Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Gallery, Deal
2021 Circling the Square, Thames-Side Gallery, Greenwich, London; A Fine Day For Seeing, Southwark Park Gallery, London; Supernova, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College, London; 2020 Colour and Shape, Linden Hall Studio, Deal; 25, APT Gallery, London; Hard Painting x 2, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton; 2019 Harder Edge, Saatchi Gallery, London; Fully Awake 5.6, Freelands Foundation, London; Present Day, Candida Stevens Gallery, Chichester; Clyde Hopkins and Friends, Linden Hall Studio, Deal; Carry On, Fold Gallery, London; Kip Gresham in Collaboration, Downing College, Cambridge; ‘point of view 2019’, in association with Hay Festival, Hay on Wye; 2018 Women Can’t Paint, Turps Gallery, London; Proof Positive, Gibberd Gallery, Harlow; Summer Show, JGM Gallery, London; touch, Candida Stevens Gallery, Chichester; + One, APT Gallery, London; 2017 Cabbages and Kings, Maddox Arts, London; Contemporary Abstract Prints, Clifford Chance, London; Touchstone, APT Gallery, London; Creekside Eleven, Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk (curator); Painting & Structure, The Kennington Residency, London; Nine Painters, Syson Gallery, Nottingham; Fully Awake, blip blip blip Gallery, Leeds; Counterpoints, Eagle Gallery, London; Abstract, Paper Gallery, Manchester; The Surface of Things, New Adelphi Gallery, University of Salford.And annually at RA Summer Exhibition and A.P.T Open Studios.
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Selected collections
Arts Council Collection
British Council Collection
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital
Contemporary Art Society, London
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Government Art Collection, London
Guildford House Gallery, Guildford
Imperial Health Charity, London
Ipswich Borough Council Collection
The Kasser Mochary Foundation, Montclair
Lloyds of London
London Borough of Hounslow
Marsh Collection, London
National Museum and Art Gallery, Gaborone
National Museum Wales, Cardiff
New Hall Art Collection, University of Cambridge
Pallant House, Chichester
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Royal Collection
Stanhope Properties plc
Stewarts, London
Triangle Workshop Collection, New York
University of Chichester
University of Lethbridge Art Gallery
University of Reading
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
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Lead image caption:
Mali Morris portrait. Photo: Tegen Kimbley.
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