Morgan: De-Lineation

“Is time an ever-present and inescapable reality? Time (as I understand it) is constant and apparently seems to be moving faster. The art historian Pamela Lee fears that time is perpetual and endless without conclusion, and what we have are only markers of its existence. For instance, death itself is simply a marker, but perhaps not an ending. As a painter, I don’t believe the work is ever finished or has reached an end because the process of being inspired continues.” — Morgan

ENGAGE Projects is thrilled to announce our upcoming solo exhibition by self-determined ‘non-objective’ painter Morgan. The exhibition entitled De-Lineation will fill the gallery with decisive strokes of color and chaos made throughout his decades-long career. Perhaps more akin to the process of drawing, the works call on feelings of frustration and irresolution as viewers attempt to visually untangle the impossible knots of Morgan’s creation. It is this impossibility that wields the success of the works, illustrating a dimensional interconnectedness that words can only grasp at. The prefix ‘de-,’ meaning to “debar” or “derail,” according to the Collins Dictionary, harks back to larger themes of contradiction within the human experience. Please join us on Friday, February 16, 6:00-8:00pm for the opening reception of the exhibition and celebration with the artist.

Recently making the move from Minneapolis to Chicago, Morgan is rooted in the Midwest, where he continues his committed study of the arts. Line and form become lost, and surface again as Morgan leans into the improvisational impulses of design. Heavily influenced by the domestic aesthetic of Afrocentric textiles, Morgan’s work is markedly discrete from the Western idea of abstract expressionism, which is historically defined by a white masculinity unfamiliar to Morgan’s practice.

Morgan received his MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design in Philadelphia. In his early career, he practiced a European model of learning that honed his skills in observational drawing. He soon departed from this style of drawing when he realized he could not find his voice within those parameters and established his lifelong practice in non-objective drawing that he is best known for today. Morgan is a recipient of numerous awards, fellowships, and grants.

Image: Morgan, Time Erases Time, 2008, Acrylic, black gesso, ink & pencil on canvas over panel, 30 x 30 in  76.2 x76.2 cm