{"data":{"id":"915","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":915,"topgoose_id":1515,"tms_id":915,"display_name":"Robert Morris","sort_name":"Morris Robert","display_date":"1931–2018","begin_date":"1931","end_date":"2018","biography":"\u003cp\u003eRobert Morris began his career as a\npainter in the late 1950s but turned to\nsculpture in 1961 and emerged as a central\nfigure in the burgeoning movement of\nMinimal art. Relying on reductive geometric\nforms and industrially fabricated objects,\nMorris’s work from the 1960s explores\nthe perceptual and experiential effects\nof three-dimensionality. \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/1774\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eUntitled (3 Ls)\u003c/em\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003econsists of three large L-shaped stainless\nsteel beams, each placed in one of\nthree possible configurations: upright,\nflat on its side, or balanced to form\nan inverted “V.” These units have identical\ndimensions, but Morris allows them\nto be reconfigured for each location in\nwhich they are displayed and viewers\ncan move around and between the three\nelements. The varied orientations and\nconfigurations of the components can have\ndramatically different effects on viewers.\nAs Morris once explained, “Simplicity\nof shape does not necessarily equate\nwith simplicity of experience.” The sculpture\nprompts spectators to consider how\nthey share space with the work and what\nit means to perceive objects, both\noptically and physically.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the late 1960s Morris had begun\nto move away from Minimalism’s rigid,\nindustrial forms and was experimenting with\nrope, rags, and felt to create sculptures\nwhose shapes were largely determined\nby chance and gravity. In \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/221\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFelt\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003eMorris created\na regular pattern of incisions in a large\nrectangular sheet of felt. When hung from\nthe wall, however, this precise geometry\ndissolves as the pliable material settles into\na tangle of strips.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach time it is installed, the work’s\nconfiguration relies on the wall from which\nit hangs, the floor on which it rests, and\nthe physical manipulations of the installers.\nThrough such sculptures, and through\nwritings such as his influential 1968 essay\n“Anti-Form,” Morris signaled the beginnings\nof Postminimal art.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500020041","wikidata_id":"Q465168","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:26:08.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:03:15.123-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/915/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/915/exhibitions"}}}}